Charles Rainford ‘over the moon’ with first-ever career pole position

Charles Rainford has shared his delight at capturing not only his first-ever pole position in the British Touring Car Championship, but also the first of his career in professional motorsport.

The West Surrey Racing drivers produced a sublime performance in qualifying at Knockhill as he headed a BMW 1-2-3, with his stablemates Daryl Deleon and Jake Hill completing the top three.

Rainford set the fastest time of the day during second practice and backed it up a few hours later as he edged out Deleon to clinch pole position by the slender margin of 0.013s.

A winner at Brands Hatch earlier in the season, the rear-wheel-drive ace is now focused on converting his front-row start into a strong result,

“That’s really special,” said Rainford. “I can’t believe it, this is something I’ve dreamed of. It’s all a bit mental but the car was amazing. I have to say a massive thank you to everyone at WSR and BMW for giving me the opportunity to put it onto pole.

“I struggled in FP1 and FP2 with the car and we made a few changes, albeit I wanted to change a few more bits. It all came together in the end though and to have Daryl and Jake up there too is great. That wasn’t just my first BTCC pole position, it was my first pole position ever in professional motorsport.

“We’re starting in a great place tomorrow so it will be eyes forward and let’s see what we can go and achieve.”