Team GardX Racing’s Sam Tordoff scored his fifth career pole position in a tight Silverstone qualifying session, in which the top 29 cars were separated by just eight tenths of a second.
Tordoff pipped Ricky Collard to pole by just 0.018s, with the front row starters both setting their times in the first half of the half-hour session.
Tom Chilton made it two Motorbase Fords in the top three with a late effort, and has Jack Goff’s Eurotech Racing Honda Civic Type R for company on the second row.
BMW Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan completed the top five, ahead of triple champion Matt Neal in his Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda.
Fellow Honda racer Matt Simpson qualified seventh, ahead of Mercedes stablemates Aiden Moffat and Adam Morgan, with Brett Smith rounding out the top ten despite recurring issues causing his Honda to stop out on track.
These issues caused a red flag with just over five minutes remaining, and few drivers improved their times once the session restarted.
Mike Bushell’s provisional fifth position time was deleted during the red flag due to an infringement of track limits, after a frantic session for the Kent racer in which he had a high-speed spin at Copse.
Standings leader Colin Turkington struggled to match the pace of his WSR teammates with maximum ballast onboard, but crucially outqualified nearest rival Tom Ingram, with the pair lining up 18th and 19th respectively.
Reigning champion Ash Sutton also struggled in 25th, ahead of Subaru teammate Jason Plato.
Race one of the weekend is set to get underway tomorrow [16th September] at 12:10.
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF |  |
Team GardX Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 23 | 58.323 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 55 | M | Ricky COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 24 | 58.341 | 0.018 |
| 3 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 22 | 58.370 | 0.047 | |
| 4 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 58.401 | 0.078 | |
| 5 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 24 | 58.480 | 0.157 |
| 6 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 21 | 58.490 | 0.167 |
| 7 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 22 | 58.493 | 0.170 | |
| 8 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 23 | 58.500 | 0.177 | |
| 9 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
MAC Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 21 | 58.560 | 0.237 | |
| 10 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 58.589 | 0.266 | |
| 11 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 20 | 58.597 | 0.274 |
| 12 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 22 | 58.614 | 0.291 | |
| 13 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 23 | 58.623 | 0.300 | |
| 14 | 66 | M | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 21 | 58.637 | 0.314 |
| 15 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 21 | 58.637 | 0.314 | |
| 16 | 26 | Daniel LLOYD | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 20 | 58.655 | 0.332 | |
| 17 | 20 | James COLE | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 20 | 58.678 | 0.355 | |
| 18 | 2 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 23 | 58.702 | 0.379 |
| 19 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 19 | 58.709 | 0.386 | |
| 20 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 20 | 58.717 | 0.394 | |
| 21 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 22 | 58.730 | 0.407 |
| 22 | 60 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 21 | 58.736 | 0.413 | |
| 23 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 18 | 58.781 | 0.458 | |
| 24 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 20 | 58.793 | 0.470 | |
| 25 | 1 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 23 | 58.867 | 0.544 |
| 26 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 25 | 58.943 | 0.620 |
| 27 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 20 | 58.952 | 0.629 | |
| 28 | 23 | Sam SMELT | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 22 | 59.067 | 0.744 | |
| 29 | 43 | Ollie PIDGLEY | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 20 | 59.141 | 0.818 | |
| 30 | 54 | Josh CAYGILL | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 20 | 59.609 | 1.286 | |
| 31 | 32 | Ethan HAMMERTON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 59.844 | 1.521 |