MG’s Sam Tordoff has scored his second-ever British Touring Car Championship pole position at Rockingham, with the MGs being split by championship leader Colin Turkington in second.
Tordoff was on top for most of the session, rising to the top of the times inside the first ten minutes. Tordoff and Plato then proceeded to improve their times at the top, before eBay Motor’s Turkington split the duo inside the final two minutes of the session. Despite posting the second fastest time, Turkington was still 0.484 seconds off the pole pace.
It is Tordoff’s second-ever pole in the BTCC and his first of the season. The MG driver also starts from first for the opening race of the day for the second consecutive meeting, after inhering pole at Knockhill last time out.
Plato ended up third, unable to respond to the championship leader with his final timed lap. The former champion will nevertheless keep the position, after having his earlier grid penalty overturned.
Honda’s Gordon Shedden was fourth fastest, ahead of reigning champion Andrew Jordan in fifth, who ended the session early complaining of set-up difficulties.
Adam Morgan was sixth fastest in his WIX Racing Mercedes, ahead of the third MG of Marc Hynes in seventh, who enjoyed his strongest qualifying session in the BTCC to-date.
Team BMR’s Alain Menu was in the top ten for the sixth time this season in eighth, with Honda’s Matt Neal and Airwaves Racing’s Mat Jackson completing the top ten.
There were problems for a number of drivers further down the order in the half hour session. Tom Ingram (12th) and Hunter Abbott (31st) both endured off-track excursions at the Tarzan Hairpin early on, whilst Welch Motorsport’s Ollie Jackson and United Autosport’s Glynn Geddie both stopped on the circuit with mechanical problems.
Top ten times
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 88 | M | Sam TORDOFF |  |
MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save | MG6 | 13 | 1:22.471 | |
| 2 | 5 | I | Colin TURKINGTON | |
eBay Motors | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 1:22.955 | 0.484 |
| 3 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save | MG6 | 14 | 1:22.967 | 0.496 |
| 4 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Tourer | 12 | 1:23.124 | 0.653 |
| 5 | 1 | I | Andrew JORDAN | |
Pirtek Racing | Honda Civic | 13 | 1:23.197 | 0.726 |
| 6 | 33 | I | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 1:23.251 | 0.780 |
| 7 | 888 | I | Marc HYNES | |
Quantel Bifold Racing | MG6 | 15 | 1:23.265 | 0.794 |
| 8 | 9 | I | Alain MENU |  |
CHROME Edition Restart Racing | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 1:23.280 | 0.809 |
| 9 | 4 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Tourer | 15 | 1:23.360 | 0.889 |
| 10 | 6 | I | Mat JACKSON | |
Airwaves Racing | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 1:23.396 | 0.925 |