Tom Ingram secures pole position for first-ever BTCC qualifying race

Tom Ingram emerged as the fastest driver in qualifying for the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park, taking pole position for Saturday afternoon’s qualifying race.

Ingram was in the first group of the two-part qualifying session and the Team Vertu driver went three tenths of a second faster than Plato Racing’s Daniel Rowbottom to top the times.

However, the reigning champion wouldn’t know if he had done enough to secure the top spot for the afternoon’s qualifying race until the second group took to the track, which featured his long-time nemesis Ash Sutton.

In the end, NAPA Racing UK’s Sutton couldn’t go any quicker, ending up a mere 0.008 seconds slower than Ingram’s effort, meaning Ingram secured pole.

Sutton had also clipped the tyre stack at the chicane near the end of the session, resulting in a front-right puncture curtailing his session and preventing him going any quicker.

Ingram’s top time also meant the entirety of Group 1 will line up on the right-hand side of the grid, with Group 2 on the pit-wall side of the circuit.

Rowbottom will line up in third for Plato Racing’s first BTCC start, with NAPA’s Dan Cammish alongside in fourth – even though the latter actually went faster than Rowbottom by 0.088 seconds.

The qualifying race gets underway at 15:05 BST and is streamed live online.

Combined Qualifying Result (*note: time gaps shown are to the fastest driver in each respective session)

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP*
1	80		Tom INGRAM	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	8	1:07.647	–
2	116		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	11	1:07.655	–
3	32		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	Cataclean Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	10	1:07.944	0.297
4	27		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	12	1:07.856	0.201
5	3		Tom CHILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	10	1:08.005	0.358
6	66		Josh COOK	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	12	1:07.917	0.262
7	16		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	10	1:08.076	0.429
8	88		Mikey DOBLE	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	10	1:07.959	0.304
9	99		Charles RAINFORD	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	10	1:08.295	0.648
10	33		Adam MORGAN	Cataclean Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	11	1:08.239	0.584
11	22		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	10	1:08.467	0.820
12	2		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	9	1:08.369	0.714
13	52		Gordon SHEDDEN	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	11	1:08.504	0.857
14	50		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	11	1:08.484	0.829
15	15		Lewis SELBY	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	12	1:08.546	0.899
16	17		Dexter PATTERSON	Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	10	1:08.596	0.941
17	11		Ricky COLLARD	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	11	1:08.726	1.079
18	132		James DORLIN	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	11	1:08.837	1.182
19	77		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	11	1:08.826	1.179
20	28		Nicolas HAMILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	9	1:09.391	1.736
21	19		Max BUXTON	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	11	1:09.215	1.568