WSR’s Daryl DeLeon claimed his maiden British Touring Car Championship pole position at Silverstone, in a session affected by on-and-off rain which spelled trouble for the championship challengers.
DeLeon was one of three drivers, along with Toyota’s Gordon Shedden and Restart Racing’s Daniel Lloyd, who changed to wet tyres late on in the ‘Quick Six’ Q3 session.
That proved to be pivotal, as a slight increase in rainfall intensity late-on favoured those whose tyres were at their optimum in the wetter conditions, and DeLeon ended up taking pole by 0.038 seconds from Shedden, as the duo posted quick laps in the final seconds.
Shedden qualified in the top ten for only the second time this season, and also secured his first front-row qualifying result since he claimed pole at Donington Park in October 2021.
Laser Tools Racing’s Jake Hill had gone quickest with two and a half minutes to go with his best effort but then immediately suffered a spin and eventually dropped to third in the final minutes, having taken the best out of his wet weather rubber.
Lloyd was fourth, a quarter of a second off the pace, whilst Toyota’s Josh Cook was fifth, on form in his car which now features an M-Sport TOCA engine this weekend.
Team Vertu’s Senna Proctor was the only Hyundai racer to make it through to Q3, ending up in sixth, just under seven tenths off the pace.
Daniel Rowbottom was the leading NAPA Racing UK driver in seventh, as the championship challengers struggled for pace in qualifying. Indeed, it was Rowbottom who knocked Team Vertu’s Tom Ingram out of qualifying in Q1, when he made a late improvement to scrape through the session.
WSR duo Aiden Moffat and Charles Rainford put their BMWs in eighth and ninth respectively, with Moffat enjoying his best qualifying result since Knockhill in 2023.
Árón Taylor-Smith completed the top ten in his Toyota, just under half a second off the pace.
Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble was 11th and the second-fastest independent, whilst NAPA Racing UK’s Ash Sutton could only manage 12th, having had a high-speed spin at Copse in Q2.
Team Vertu duo Adam Morgan and Tom Ingram will start from 13th and 14th respectively for the opening race on Sunday, with Ingram struggling for pace throughout Q1.
There was further drama in Q1 when both Team Vertu’s Tom Chilton and NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish failed the ride height check, sending them to 19th and 21st respectively.
Race one is scheduled to get underway at 11:30 BST on Sunday.
‘Quick Six’ results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 2 |  |
Daryl DELEON | WSR | BMW 330i M Sport | 7 | 1:02.218 | – |
| 2 | 52 |  |
Gordon SHEDDEN | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 8 | 1:02.256 | 0.038 |
| 3 | 1 | |
Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | BMW 330i M Sport | 8 | 1:02.430 | 0.212 |
| 4 | 123 | |
Daniel LLOYD | Restart Racing | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 8 | 1:02.465 | 0.247 |
| 5 | 66 | |
Josh COOK | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 8 | 1:02.706 | 0.488 |
| 6 | 18 | |
Senna PROCTOR | Team Vertu | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 7 | 1:02.902 | 0.684 |
Drivers failing to progress from Q2
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 7 | 32 | |
Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 9 | 57.041 | 0.307 |
| 8 | 16 | |
Aiden MOFFAT | LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR | BMW 330i M Sport | 10 | 57.085 | 0.351 |
| 9 | 99 | |
Charles RAINFORD | LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR | BMW 330i M Sport | 10 | 57.130 | 0.396 |
| 10 | 40 |  |
Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 10 | 57.180 | 0.446 |
| 11 | 88 | |
Mikey DOBLE | Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing | CUPRA Leon | 10 | 57.254 | 0.520 |
| 12 | 116 | |
Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 9 | 57.727 | 0.993 |
Drivers failing to progress from Q1
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 13 | 33 | |
Adam MORGAN | Team Vertu | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 8 | 58.884 | 1.822 |
| 14 | 80 | |
Tom INGRAM | Team Vertu | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 8 | 57.516 | 0.455 |
| 15 | 22 | |
Chris SMILEY | Restart Racing | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 6 | 59.856 | 2.794 |
| 16 | 19 | |
Max BUXTON | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 8 | 57.793 | 0.732 |
| 17 | 28 | |
Nicolas HAMILTON | Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock | CUPRA Leon | 7 | 1:01.823 | 4.761 |
| 18 | 17 | |
Dexter PATTERSON | ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport | CUPRA Leon | 9 | 57.845 | 0.784 |
| 19 | 3 | |
Tom CHILTON | Team Vertu | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 8 | Excluded | 2.184 |
| 20 | 77 | |
Sam OSBORNE | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 7 | 58.081 | 1.020 |
| 21 | 27 | |
Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 7 | Excluded | 0.869 |
| 22 | 50 | |
Nick HALSTEAD | Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing | CUPRA Leon | 8 | 58.743 | 1.682 |