Tom Chilton claimed his first Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship pole position in 14 years at Donington Park this afternoon (Saturday). The Team VERTU driver topped Quick Six Qualifying in mixed conditions with a time of 1m43.129s to seal first on the Grand Prix circuit.
All six of the drivers who made it to the final part of the knockout qualifying process opted for the wet tyre with rain falling in the East Midlands. But it was Chilton who made the best use of the circumstances to top the order by just over three tenths of a second.
Next best was his teammate and series leader Tom Ingram, who was the only driver in the championship top-six to even make the final shootout. Ingram couldn’t quite match the pace of the other Hyundai but with primary title rival Ash Sutton, his NAPA Racing UK teammates Dan Cammish and Daniel Rowbottom and reigning champion Jake Hill all knocked out in the second part of qualifying, he enters Saturday with an added advantage.
Third on the grid will be Mikey Doble who offered a reminder of his talents in just his second weekend at the controls of a Cupra Leon following the loss of the team’s Vauxhalls in a devastating fire. Chris Smiley will join him on the second row in another Hyundai, an example run and prepared by Restart Racing.
Daryl DeLeon was fifth quickest in the only WSR BMW to make the Quick Six segment with Senna Proctor sixth in another Team VERTU car.
Cammish, Rowbottom, Adam Morgan and Dan Lloyd will complete the top-10 on the grid after narrowly missing out on the Quick Six.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Donington Park, Qualifying Quick Six
- Tom Chilton, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +1m43.129s
- Tom Ingram, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +0.353s
- Mikey Doble, Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing, Cupra Leon, +1.332s
- Chris Smiley, Restart Racing, Hyundai i30N, +1.395s
- Daryl DeLeon, WSR, BMW 330i M Sport, +1.524s
- Senna Proctor, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +2.118s
Click here for full times and results from this weekend.