Ashley Sutton was delighted after securing his first pole position for Subaru during qualifying for the British Touring Car Championship triple header at Donington Park.
Sutton, who clocked a new qualifying lap record of 1:09.412 in the process, edged out Rob Austin by 0.102 seconds to claim top spot. Jack Goff took third in the Eurotech Honda Civic Type R.
Team BMR endured a difficult season opener at Brands Hatch and appeared off the pace during an experimental brace of practice sessions earlier in the day at Donington Park.
Sutton, however, hit the front during the early stages of the session and maintained his advantage throughout.
“It was just a case of piecing a lap together,” explained Sutton. “We managed to pick at the setup throughout practice and that was the first time we’d been out on new tyres. We hadn’t shown what we can do and we’ve hit the nail on the head when it mattered!
He admitted the team had been unsure of just how much performance they had left to gain, but was ecstatic nevertheless with the result and is aiming for victory in the first race tomorrow.
“We didn’t know what we were capable of but it paid off. You always arrive aiming to be on pole, so to achieve that is fantastic. The guys have worked hard, day and night, every day of the week – it’s nice to reward them with pole. We’ll kick on from here tomorrow with no weight on-board and see what we can do.”