Reigning British Touring Car Champion Ash Sutton admitted that he had to ‘dig deep’ in order to claim his first Thruxton pole position in a wet and changeable qualifying session.
Sutton bagged the top time in the closing seconds of the session, having earlier topped the times just after the halfway stage when the track was wetter.
With ten minutes to go, the Laser Tools Racing driver found himself tumbling down the order after his front-wheel drive rivals began to switch to slick tyres on a drying track.
Whilst Sutton’s lap of 1 minute 20.169 seconds had put him fastest with just over ten minutes to go, times soon dropped into the 1:18s and he had to return to the pits for a change of rubber.
Spending several minutes warming his tyres up, Sutton then clinched pole with a lap of 1:18.305 in the very last seconds of the session, edging out Josh Cook and Colin Turkington, who had similarly put in quick laps at the very end.
“We’ve been thriving in wet conditions all day,” said Sutton, who had never previously qualified on the front row at the high-speed circuit. “The balance was mega then.
“Obviously we were sitting at the top of the times in the wet and when you start hearing boys are going out on slicks I was like ‘alright, let’s dig deep’.
“The front-wheel drive cars can generate a bit more heat quicker than us, so we spent a long time doing it, but it came true at the end.”
Sutton praised the progress his team has made in the off-season, which has allowed the two-time champion to start the season in strong form.
“The balance of the car we’ve had over the pre-season has been very good,” added Sutton. “We’ve made a few tweaks from last year, well I say a few, but quite dramatic tweaks, but they’ve paid off in the dry because it’s normal our downside.”
Race one is scheduled to get underway at 11:40 BST on Sunday.