Aron Smith takes first pole in drama-laden Thruxton qualifying
Team BMR’s Aron Smith took a maiden BTCC pole position in a drama-laden qualifying session at Thruxton, which had two lengthy red flag stoppages after big crashes for Mike Bushell, Simon Belcher and Hunter Abbott and saw a spate of drivers lose top times for exceeding track limits.
Two long stoppages saw the session stretch to nearly 70 minutes, and it was Smith who emerged on top in a frantic final few minutes, which saw top spot change numerous times and the stewards delete several drivers’ laps.
But the drama was soured by news of AmD Tuning’s Mike Bushell, who sustained a suspected broken left femur after a huge crash with Speedworks Motorsport’s Simon Belcher, who was unhurt.
Smith’s time of 1.16.785 in his Volkswagen CC saw him pip the Honda Racing Team pair of Gordon Shedden and championship leader Matt Neal by just 0.020 and 0.073 respectively. Shedden was the first of the front runners to lose a time for exceeding track limits at the final chicane, but recovered to make the front row, while Neal was an impressive third with 75kg of success ballast.
Behind the top three, Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan took fourth after also recovering from having a time deleted, with West Surrey Racing’s Andy Priaulx an impressive fifth on a track which wasn’t expected to suit his BMW 125i.
Rounding out the top 10 were Jason Plato, Jack Goff, Josh Cook, Colin Turkington and Rob Collard, with Andrew Jordan just outside the top 10 in 11th.
The biggest story in the second half of the grid was Power Maxed Racing’s Dave Newsham, whose 16th place didn’t tell the full story. He had set an identical time to Neal but also lost it to track limits, and wasn’t able to replicate the lap.
A total of 37 minutes of delays meant the session ended well over an hour after it started.
The first stoppage came after a huge accident involving Bushell and Belcher after only six minutes’ running. Bushell was exiting the pits in his Ford Focus ST while Belcher was coming around Allard, and the two made heavy contact and hit the barriers hard.
The second stoppage came with seven minutes to go when Rob Austin Racing’s Hunter Abbott lost control of his Audi A4 around the back of the circuit, and had a hefty side-on impact with the tyres. Again, the driver was able to walk away.
A total of 24 drivers set a laptime as neither Dan Welch nor Martin Donnelly took part in the session. The Welch Motorsport man suffered damage in an off in second practice, while the Infiniti debutant had power steering issues.
