Dan Cammish secures maiden BTCC pole at Knockhill

Dan Cammish secured his maiden pole position after coming out on top of a frenetic battle for top spot in qualifying for the eighth meeting of the BTCC season at Knockhill.

The Honda driver was one of a number of drivers to break the qualifying lap record on the resurfaced circuit and headed a new-look front row after the BMW of Stephen Jelley posted the second quickest time.

Before anyone had even managed to set a proper timed lap, the session had to be brought to a halt after the Volkwagen of Bobby Thompson dropped oil around the majority of the circuit, leading a lengthy stoppage whilst marshals tried to clear the track surface after both Ash Sutton and Tom Chilton had slid wide at the opening corner.

It meant some tentative laps when the session resumed as drivers started to look for grip, but it didn’t take long for times to start tumbling as the conditions improved.

Andrew Jordan was the first driver to dip below the previous record in his WSR-run BMW but a storming lap from Cammish then allowed him to go onto pole by just 0.051s. Cammish remained in his car but in the pits as the clock ticked down and whilst he wasn’t to be beaten, Jelley was able to get ahead of Jordan into second spot having run strongly throughout the session in his Team Parker-run car.

Jordan would do his best to improve on his final lap but despite feeling there was more on the table, he remained in third spot ahead of team-mate Colin Turkington – who produced a stunning performance with maximum ballast onboard to secure P4.

Chris Smiley was the best placed of the FK2 Honda drivers in fifth place having edged ahead of the Toyota of Tom Ingram by just 0.002s with Tom Oliphant taking seventh despite a trip off track at the wheel of his Ciceley-run Mercedes A-Class. Ash Sutton, Adam Morgan and Josh Cook rounded out the top ten.

Aside from Thompson’s issues, there were also problems for Matt Simpson who went off on the exit of McIntyres and got stuck on the grass on the infield, and for Brett Smith who went off into the gravel at the exit of the chicane in the closing minutes.

Whilst Cammish snared pole, team-mate Matt Neal could only manage the 21st best time despite lapping just six tenths of a second off the pace.