Dan Cammish surged to pole position in a wet Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship qualifying session at Brands Hatch this afternoon (Saturday). The championship leader topped the times with his final flying lap during a top ten shootout to secure his place at the front of the grid for the first of Sunday’s three headline races.
Jake Hill topped the initial qualifying period with a late lap in the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport branded BMW, following a session which was about survival as much as pace. Nick Halstead and Will Powell were among those to fall foul of challenging conditions whilst Nicolas Hamilton was helpless to avoid an unfortunate collision with the spinning Adam Morgan as he attempted to recover from a moment of his own.
After a number of red flag interruptions following these incidents, there was a final dash to make the top ten shootout, and it was Hill who set the pace from Ash Sutton and Colin Turkington with Cammish fourth. Rory Butcher's Toyota Gazoo Racing machine appeared set to just miss out but he held his nerve as the chequered flag fell to go fifth and in doing so eliminate Donington Park race winner Tom Chilton from qualifying by just a thousandth of a second.
For much of the final shootout it seemed that another BMW might claim the honours, with Turkington's Team BMW 330e M Sport at the head of the order. A late surge from Hill briefly threatened to take the top sport, but the local driver was forced to settle just behind his fellow WSR-prepared BMW by just 0.006s.
Cammish's NAPA Racing Ford Focus ST set the timing screens alight just as the session entered its final moments however, with a lap almost three tenths of a second clear, a significant margin on the compact Indy circuit. His three-time champion teammate Sutton was forced to settle for fourth behind the BMWs whilst Cammish extended his championship lead with a point for pole position.
Butcher matched his performance in the initial qualifying phase to complete the top five, just ahead of Bobby Thompson who repeated his front running practice pace to take sixth. Reigning champion Tom Ingram will start from seventh, one place ahead of Josh Cook whilst Daniel Lloyd and Ronan Pearson completed the top ten.
Three headline BTCC races will top the bill at Brands Hatch tomorrow (Sunday) with a full support race line-up scheduled too. Tickets are available on the gate with reductions for 13-15-year-olds and seniors (65+) and free entry for under-13s.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Qualifying, Brands Hatch
- Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, 54.297s
- Colin Turkington, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +0.271s
- Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, BMW 330e M Sport, +0.277s
- Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +0.341s
- Rory Butcher, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +0.412s
- Bobby Thompson, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils, Cupra Leon, +0.505s
- Tom Ingram, Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8, Hyundai i30N, +0.667s
- Josh Cook, One Motorsport with Starline Racing, Honda Civic Type R, +0.688s
- Daniel Lloyd, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils, Cupra Leon, +0.759s
- Ronan Pearson, Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8, Hyundai i30N, +1.031s
Click here for full results from this weekend's event.