Tom Chilton surges to Donington Park GP pole position

Tom Chilton produced a masterful performance in challenging conditions to claim his first pole position of the British Touring Car Championship season in Donington Park qualifying. 

Soggy conditions worsened throughout the session at the East Midlands circuit and it was Chilton ultimately reigned supreme as he backed up his pace in free practice to snare top spot.

Pole position around the Grand Prix layout wasn’t just Chilton’s first of the season but also his first since Knockhill in 2011.

EXCELR8 Motorsport had plenty more to celebrate too as championship leader Tom Ingram bolstered his title chances by making it a Hyundai 1-2 as he locked out the front row with his team-mate. 

Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble also starred in the session as he clinched the best-ever qualifying result for the Cupra as he punched in the third fastest time to pip his main Independent protagonist Chris Smiley. 

Completing the top-six – having not maximised their tyre performance earlier in the Quick Six Shootout – was West Surrey Racing’s Daryl DeLeon and the third EXCELR8 Hyundai of Senna Proctor. 

Alliance Racing endured a somewhat frustrating session as Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom could only lock out the fourth row of the grid. Meanwhile, four-time champion Ash Sutton saw his title chances take a blow as he could only manage 11th.

Sutton will start behind the Hyundai duo of Adam Morgan and Daniel Lloyd, whilst reigning champion Jake Hill saw his best time deleted for exceeding track limits, costing him a chance of progressing into the Quick Six and ultimately leaving him 12th. 

Further down the order, Speedworks Motorsport also suffered from track limit offences as neither Aron Taylor-Smith, Gordon Shedden, Josh Cook or Max Buxton was able to make it out of the first portion of the session.