Mikey Doble reigns supreme in Silverstone Qualifying Race
Mikey Doble will start the first of Sunday’s three British Touring Car Championship contests at Silverstone from pole position after charging to victory in the penultimate Qualifying Race of the season.
The Power Maxed Racing driver had set a brand-new lap record to secure a front-row start for the 18-lap contest in qualifying, however he was made to work for the win after coming under immediate pressure from the WSR BMW of Daryl De Leon.
As the red lights went out, De Leon out-dragged Doble to take the lead on the run down to Copse while behind, the trio of Aiden Moffat, Tom Chilton and Charles Rainford went wheel-to-wheel for third, fourth and fifth.
On lap two, Doble made the decisive move to reclaim top spot as he carried superior speed down the Wellington Straight before completing the move at Brooklands. De Leon fought back but Doble was able to hang on to hold the position.
From there, the Independent points leader steadily began to pull clear and despite the appearance of the safety car following a crash for debutant Osamu Kawashima, the Audi driver cruised to a first Race To Pole win.
De Leon had looked comfortable in second for a large portion of the encounter but the rear-wheel-drive ace began to fade in the latter stages. That in-turn enabled Moffat and Chilton find a way past as the race entered its final laps.
Further back, Daniel Lloyd was another late improver as he, along with the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota of Josh Cook, managed to find a way past Charles Rainford late on. The trio would end up completing the top seven.
Rounding out the top ten – albeit battling amongst themselves – was Adam Morgan, Aron Taylor-Smith and Gordon Shedden.
Reigning champion Tom Ingram was the best-placed of the championship protagonists as he finished 12th. Championship leader Ash Sutton meanwhile bounced back from a lap-one spin to pick up a point in 14th.
Race 1 is scheduled for 11:15 local time/12:15 CEST on Sunday.
