Matt Simpson claimed his maiden pole position in the British Touring Car Championship during qualifying at Oulton Park.
A quickest effort of 1:25.750 seconds put the Simpson Racing driver 0.2 seconds clear of Motorbase’s Sam Tordoff, who along with team-mate Tom Chilton and the WSR-run BMW 1-series of Andrew Jordan was unable to deny the Eurotech Racing driver.
Matt Neal had looked the most likely to challenge Simpson in the closing stages, but could only steer his Honda Civic Type R FK7 to fifth, nearly four tenths adrift.
Simpson’s Eurotech stablemates Jack Goff and Brett Smith came next, meaning all three FK2 models will start in the top eight, a group rounded out by the final Motorbase Ford Focus RS of James Cole.
Colin Turkington’s BMW 1-series stopped on the Avenue but restarted and eventually ended the session ninth, edging out local racer Tom Oliphant in the leading Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes A-Class.
His team-mate and championship leader Adam Morgan made it three sessions in a row down in 19th as he combats the effects of flu, but with closest rival Josh Cook behind could still lead the standings after the opening contest tomorrow.
Reigning champion Ash Sutton led the charge for Team BMR’s Subaru outfit in 15th, though Jason Plato could only manage 29th and Josh Price will start last.
For Simpson, however, the result gives him a golden opportunity to better his current career-best result of seventh.
The opening race gets underway at 12:20 tomorrow afternoon [10th June].
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON |  |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 13 | 1:25.750 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team GardX Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 1:25.993 | 0.243 | |
| 3 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 1:26.082 | 0.332 | |
| 4 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 17 | 1:26.103 | 0.353 |
| 5 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 13 | 1:26.132 | 0.382 |
| 6 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:26.183 | 0.433 | |
| 7 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:26.207 | 0.457 | |
| 8 | 20 | James COLE | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 14 | 1:26.214 | 0.464 | |
| 9 | 2 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 1:26.264 | 0.514 |
| 10 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 1:26.296 | 0.546 | |
| 11 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 15 | 1:26.312 | 0.562 | |
| 12 | 5 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 17 | 1:26.336 | 0.586 |
| 13 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 13 | 1:26.363 | 0.613 | |
| 14 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:26.389 | 0.639 |
| 15 | 1 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 1:26.393 | 0.643 |
| 16 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 1:26.403 | 0.653 | |
| 17 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 13 | 1:26.411 | 0.661 | |
| 18 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 13 | 1:26.571 | 0.821 | |
| 19 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
MAC Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 1:26.602 | 0.852 | |
| 20 | 66 | M | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 10 | 1:26.622 | 0.872 |
| 21 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 12 | 1:26.713 | 0.963 | |
| 22 | 26 | Daniel LLOYD | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:26.716 | 0.966 | |
| 23 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 13 | 1:26.748 | 0.998 | |
| 24 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 13 | 1:26.749 | 0.999 | |
| 25 | 44 | Michael CAINE | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 13 | 1:26.867 | 1.117 | |
| 26 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 1:26.879 | 1.129 |
| 27 | 60 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:26.882 | 1.132 | |
| 28 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 1:26.947 | 1.197 | |
| 29 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 15 | 1:26.972 | 1.222 |
| 30 | 12 | Tom BOARDMAN | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 12 | 1:27.176 | 1.426 | |
| 31 | 23 | Sam SMELT | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 16 | 1:27.419 | 1.669 | |
| 32 | 28 | Josh PRICE | |
Autoglym Academy Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 13 | 1:28.552 | 2.802 |