Defending champion Colin Turkington edged out rival Dan Cammish to secure pole position in qualifying for race one of the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.
Despite rain falling just before qualifying got underway, all drivers headed out on slicks and the rear-wheel drive runners headed the times early on in the half-hour session.
Turkington led the way, and would continue to improve across the session to secure pole position as the only man to dip under the 1:09 mark with his new qualifying lap record of 1:08.998.
2019 runner-up Cammish was less than a tenth adrift of Turkington’s time, a strong result considering Team Dynamics were forced to change the differential on his Honda Civic Type R in just 16 minutes to get him out into the session.
Heading the second row with the Infiniti Q50’s best qualifying result to date was Ash Sutton, who improved throughout the session to produce a lap just 0.010 shy of Cammish’s time.
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s Tom Ingram managed fourth position at the circuit where he took the Corolla’s debut victory last season, ahead of Turkington’s Team BMW stablemate Tom Oliphant who would round out the top five.
Rory Butcher made a strong start to competitive life with the new-for-2020 Ford Focus ST in sixth position for Motorbase Performance, placing ahead of former team-mate Jake Hill in sixth and seventh positions respectively.
BTC Racing’s Josh Cook was next in his FK8 Honda Civic with Cammish’s team-mate Matt Neal in ninth giving Team Dynamics a double top ten start for tomorrow.
Adam Morgan’s Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes-Benz A-Class would complete the top ten, with Senna Proctor in 11th on the debut BTCC qualifying for the Excelr8 Motorsport Hynudai i30N.
His team-mate Chris Smiley was two positions further back in 13th, behind the FK2 Honda Civic of Sam Osborne for new squad MB Motorsport.
Stephen Jelley placed 15th in his older-generation BMW 125i M Sport, while Tom Chilton was left disappointed in 16th after encouraging pace in practice earlier in the day.
Team HARD’s Jack Goff managed to get some running in the session, placing 25th, after a brake failure in FP2 caused heavy damage to his Volkswagen CC and left him with bruised ribs.
The opening race of the 2020 British Touring Car Championship is set to get underway tomorrow [2 August] at 11:10 BST.
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 1 | M | Colin TURKINGTON |  |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 20 | 1:08.998 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 14 | 1:09.085 | 0.087 |
| 3 | 116 | I | Ashley SUTTON | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 19 | 1:09.095 | 0.097 |
| 4 | 80 | M | Tom INGRAM | |
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 16 | 1:09.210 | 0.212 |
| 5 | 15 | M | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 21 | 1:09.309 | 0.311 |
| 6 | 6 | I | Rory BUTCHER | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 12 | 1:09.329 | 0.331 |
| 7 | 24 | I | Jake HILL | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 16 | 1:09.387 | 0.389 |
| 8 | 66 | I | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 18 | 1:09.411 | 0.413 |
| 9 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 18 | 1:09.563 | 0.565 |
| 10 | 32 | I | Adam MORGAN | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 18 | 1:09.567 | 0.569 |
| 11 | 18 | I | Senna PROCTOR | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 11 | 1:09.588 | 0.590 |
| 12 | 4 | I | Sam OSBORNE | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 15 | 1:09.631 | 0.633 |
| 13 | 48 | I | Ollie JACKSON | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 16 | 1:09.723 | 0.725 |
| 14 | 22 | I | Chris SMILEY | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 16 | 1:09.724 | 0.726 |
| 15 | 12 | I | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 1:09.818 | 0.820 |
| 16 | 3 | I | Tom CHILTON | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 18 | 1:09.819 | 0.821 |
| 17 | 19 | I | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 20 | 1:10.118 | 1.120 |
| 18 | 777 | I | Michael CREES | |
The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 17 | 1:10.200 | 1.202 |
| 19 | 180 | I | James GORNALL | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 19 | 1:10.218 | 1.220 |
| 20 | 16 | I | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 18 | 1:10.432 | 1.434 |
| 21 | 44 | I | Andy NEATE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 18 | 1:10.692 | 1.694 |
| 22 | 41 | I | Carl BOARDLEY | |
Team HARD. | BMW 125i M Sport | 18 | 1:10.758 | 1.760 |
| 23 | 34 | I | Ollie BROWN | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 1:11.049 | 2.051 |
| 24 | 32 | I | Jack BUTEL | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 18 | 1:11.508 | 2.510 |
| 25 | 31 | I | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 6 | 1:11.538 | 2.540 |
| 26 | 28 | I | Nicolas HAMILTON | |
ROKiT Racing with Team HARD. | Volkswagen CC | 2 | No time | N/A |