BTCC 2019: Croft Qualifying
Andrew Jordan grabbed his first pole position in the BTCC since Thruxton 2014, in what would best be described as one of the most disrupted qualifying sessions in recent memory.
A total of five red flags graced the session, as drivers up and down the field struggled to get into a rhythm and put in some respectable times. The first three red flags came out as cars struggled for grip on the circuit and fired off into the barriers. Drivers caught up in the mayhem included the Motorbase Ford of Nic Hamilton and Rory Butcher, with the latter pushing a little to hard coming out of the opening sequence of corners and losing the rear end and hitting the barrier very hard.
Jordan had looked in good form all morning throughout the free practise sessions and his pace continued into qualifying. However, he and his team had a brief scare when the final red flag was caused by Jordan himself and the rules state that if a drivers causes a red flag, their time is taken away from them. Luckily for the BMW man, his second fastest lap was still good enough for the top spot.
Further back, the BTC Norlin Honda of Chris Smiley and the Motorbase Ford of Tom Chilton showed impressive pace to get laps in at the right time and lock out second and third respectively. The BMW performance was backed up even more with Colin Turkington and Tom Oliphant starting from fourth and fifth for the first of tomorrow's three races.
Ashley Sutton, Dan Cammish, Ollie Jackson, Jake Hill and Jason Plato lock out the rest of the top ten positions. Some big names starting from outside the top ten include Matt Neal, Tom Ingram and Rob Collard who will all start from 13th, 15th and 16th respectively.
Speaking to BTCC.net, Andrew Jordan had this to say about his pole position.
“I was sat stuck in the mud thinking we’d have everything taken from us but we had a puncture. I was going so steady and when it started to drizzle I just had nothing heading into the Complex. I did it when it counted and luckily our second best time was good enough for pole. 2014 must have been the last time I had the pole. There were lots of red flags, I can’t remember as many in a session and I caused one but it was good for me. It’s a first pole with West Surrey Racing and it’s a top result for BMW Pirtek Racing, too. I’ve had three wins, which is a lot. I want to win the race, of course, but we’re in a good position. I want to take points out of Colin (Turkington) and we’re in a good position to do so.”
So we are all set for a brilliant day of racing at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire and with the weather looking like it will play a big part, your guess is as good as ours as to who will come out on top.
