eBay Motors’ Colin Turkington continued his imperious form during the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship qualifying session at Knockhill today. Turkington powered his eBay Motors BMW to a new qualifying lap record with a time of 51.705 seconds; however, the BMW racer will have to be content with an 8th place grid position for tomorrow’s opening race, following the application of his eight-place grid penalty he incurred at Snetterton Circuit, last time out.
Turkington pulled of the perfect damage limitation excercise at Knockhill today!
Turkington’s loss however, is MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save racer Sam Tordoff’s gain; as he will line up on the grid for tomorrow’s opening race from pole position, with Rob Austin alongside him on the front row in second position. 2013 defending Champion, Andrew Jordon (3rd) lines up on the 2nd row alongside Honda Yuasa Racing’s Gordon Shedden (4th); whilst Shedden’s teammate Matt Neal, and Jason Plato, line up 5th and 6th respectively.
Tordoff steals pole after strong showing by both MG KX Clubcar Fuel Save cars
Airwaves Racing’s Mat Jackson, and eBay Motors’ Nick Foster, as well as Scotland’s Glenn Geddie, and Hunter Abbot round out the top ten. Geddie’s fellow Scots Dave Newsham and Aiden Moffat will be hoping for strong race-performances in tomorrow’s three BTCC races.
In a tentative opening to the session, Turkington was the first driver to register a time with a 54.544 second lap, before Adam Morgan immediately deposed him with a 53.880s effort. There was a slight delay in proceedings as Chris Stockton’s car was removed from the gravel.
With the action recommencing with 18 minutes to go, Andrew Jordan claimed top spot before Matt Neal posted a 52.359 second effort to move top. At the same time Turkington moved himself up to third, before claiming top spot soon after with a 52.076s lap. Turkington then went on to improve his time on two further occasions; firstly with a 51.936s attempt and then with his winning time of 51.709s, becoming the only driver to dip into the 51s barrier this weekend.
As the chequered flag came out Rob Austin had enough in the tank to claim a dramatic, last-gasp, third (amended to 2nd) on the timesheets.
Turkington said afterwards, speaking to Alan Hyde via Knockhill FM:
“That was a fantastic lap, to get three purple sectors on one lap is really pleasing.
“I knew my previous lap was fast and so l just tightened the belts, and went for another.”
Turkington, couldn’t have wished for a better outcome from today’s BTCC qualifying session. An eighth place start, offers the eBay star a genuine chance of salvaging a decent weekend from Knockhill, despite that eight-place penalty. Turkington will also be well aware that his car has been on rails all weekend, out-performing his closest rivals by 0.4 of a second in FP1 and qualifying. With the top 20 drivers all inside the 52 second bracket, tomorrow’s DPS Group Raceday will likely be a spectacular affair.
Make sure you join us, with the first BTCC action set to get underway at 11.45am, followed by two further races at 14.17pm and 17.07pm. Tickets for the event can be booked online, until midnight tonight – with box office collection in operation; alternatively tickets will be available at the gate, throughout tomorrow’s Homecoming Scotland 2014 – Knockhill 40th Anniversary – Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship DPS Group Raceday event.
Book tickets here (online discounts apply) and check out the BTCC website for all the latest reaction to an intriguing Knockhill qualifying session.