Reigning champion Gordon Shedden admitted he was pleased to start on the front row for the opening round of the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship tomorrow after a tricky qualifying session punctuated with rain and traffic.
It was Tom Ingram who claimed a maiden pole position, the Speedworks Motorsport driver setting a fastest time of 47.990 seconds, just 0.063 seconds faster than Shedden in the Halfords Yuasa Racing Civic Type R.
Despite being second on the road for tomorrow morning, Shedden was still pleased to be at the sharp end of the field and felt pole position was still a possibility, had the different factors aligned.
“I’m very happy. It was a tricky session with the weather, but I’m over the moon to be starting from the front row of the grid. I think pole was probably within reach, but we couldn’t quite put it all together at the right time.” he commented.
The two-time champion was also pleased to have one of his team-mates, Matt Neal, at the front with him. His other team-mate, Andy Neate, was classified 18th on his return to the series.
It’s fantastic to have Matt [Neal – team-mate] right up at the front too, so hopefully we can hustle and race well as a pair tomorrow.”
Race one gets underway at 11:32 tomorrow (Sunday 3rd April).