Chris Smiley delighted to clinch front row start

Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley was left delighted after clinching his best qualifying result for six years in the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park today.

The Hyundai driver was on the pace right the way throughout qualifying around the undulating Cheshire track and was rewarded for his efforts by securing a front-row start after posting the second fastest time.

After leading the way in second practice, the Northern Irishman paced parts one and two of qualifying but was just pipped to pole position in the Quick Six shootout by his i30 N stablemate Tom Ingram.

Despite narrowly missing out on top spot, Smiley was pleased by his and the team’s efforts and is relishing the prospect of what lies ahead on race day.

“That was the best qualifying I’ve had in six years so I’m really pleased,” he said. “We’ve been on the money all day but fair play to Tom, I think I could have gone another tenth quicker but certainly not dip into the 23s’.

“To be on the front row though is phenomenal and all credit to the team because they’ve been doing a great job. This is only our fifth weekend with the car so to achieve a result like this is fantastic. We never even made it into Q3 at all last year!

“We’ve clearly got a competitive car so we will see what we can do tomorrow. We’re starting from the best place possible so we’ll give it a good crack and see what we can bring home.”