Mikey Doble ‘in disbelief’ after maiden BTCC pole

Mikey Doble was left ‘in disbelief’ after securing his first BTCC pole position at Silverstone, ending the run of success enjoyed by the NAPA Racing UK team.

Doble became the first driver to score a pole in his rookie season since Dan Cammish back in 2018 as he picked up on the third pole position for Power Maxed Racing, with the last coming at the same circuit thanks to Jason Plato four years ago.

The Vauxhall Astra had proven to be quick across free practice with Andrew Watson pacing FP2, but it was Doble who surprised with a stunning run in Q2 that saw him edge Colin Turkington to top spot in a session that saw the leading five covered by less than a tenth of a second.

“I knew we had the speed today, but I didn’t expect pole and didn’t think I’d be the one to knock NAPA Racing off the top,” Doble admitted. “In that respect, there couldn’t really be a better way to score my first pole and the lap came early in Q2 on what I thought was going to be a banker.

“When I heard I was in P1 and then realised that the others weren’t going quicker than me, I started to think that we might have it and to end up on pole is just unbelievable. I thought P4 at Thruxton earlier in the year was remarkable, and I’m not sure how many people will do this in their rookie season.”

Doble will now look to try and fight for silverware on race day, with a podium finish being the ultimate goal.

“At Thruxton we managed to hold on in the top ten, but with everything I learned there, I’d hope we can do better,” he said. “We’re ahead of the other Jack Sears Trophy entrants which is important, but we’ve got the chance to fight for a strong result and if we don’t get the win then a podium would be great.”