James Cole secured his first-ever pole position in the British Touring Car Championship at Rcokingham, ahead of Eurotech Racing’s Jack Goff and Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram.
Cole put his Subaru at the top of the times with just three and a half minutes remaining in the half-hour shootout, having improved his lap times on two successive laps in the final five minutes.
The Liverpudlian’s pole is the first in his BTCC career, and also marks the first for a rear-wheel drive car at Rockingham, despite the Subaru Levorgs having had their boost levels reduced slightly since the previous round at Knockhill.
Goff was second, although the Eurotech Honda racer had been at the top of the times for most of the final 20 minutes of the session, being pipped only by Cole near the end.
Ingram, who had topped both of the morning’s earlier practice sessions, ended up in third, with the Toyota driver having scuppered his final flying lap with a slide through Gracelands.
Ash Sutton was the leading championship contender in fourth, just over a tenth behind his pace-setting Subaru team-mate despite carrying 66 kg of success ballast.
Points leader Colin Turkington also enjoyed a strong session, putting in the fifth fastest time to keep Sutton within his sights. All three of the WSR-run BMWs have also had their boost levels reduced slightly since Knockhill.
Adam Morgan qualified in sixth, marking a third successive top ten qualifying result for the Mercedes driver.
Matt Neal was the leading factory-backed Honda driver in seventh, although his title contending team-mate Gordon Shedden found less pace in his Civic and ended the session down in 16th, just over half a second off the pace.
Josh Cook was the leading MG driver in eighth, ahead of Power Maxed Racing’s Tom Chilton in ninth and Subaru’s Jason Plato in tenth.
AmD Tuning duo Ollie Jackson and Ant Whorton-Eales, who had both been comfortably inside the top ten in practice, fared slightly less well in qualifying, putting their Audis in 14th and 19th respectively.
Team BMW’s Rob Collard had been languishing down in 27th for much of the session, but in the end the perennial qualifying under-performer managed to improve to put his car in 20th for Sunday’s first race.
Race one takes place at 11:37 BST on Sunday.
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 20 | M | James COLE |  |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 1:23.187 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:23.235 | 0.048 | |
| 3 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 14 | 1:23.269 | 0.082 | |
| 4 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 1:23.308 | 0.121 |
| 5 | 4 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 1:23.382 | 0.195 |
| 6 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 1:23.385 | 0.198 | |
| 7 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:23.450 | 0.263 |
| 8 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 13 | 1:23.482 | 0.295 | |
| 9 | 2 | M | Tom CHILTON | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 13 | 1:23.569 | 0.382 |
| 10 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 1:23.622 | 0.435 |
| 11 | 3 | Mat JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 14 | 1:23.654 | 0.467 | |
| 12 | 28 | M | Josh PRICE | |
A-Plan Academy | Subaru Levorg GT | 15 | 1:23.668 | 0.481 |
| 13 | 40 | M | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH |  |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 15 | 1:23.672 | 0.485 |
| 14 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 13 | 1:23.680 | 0.493 | |
| 15 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 17 | 1:23.696 | 0.509 | |
| 16 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:23.699 | 0.512 |
| 17 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 15 | 1:23.705 | 0.518 | |
| 18 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:23.737 | 0.550 |
| 19 | 10 | Ant WHORTON-EALES | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 16 | 1:23.751 | 0.564 | |
| 20 | 5 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:23.824 | 0.637 |
| 21 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 14 | 1:23.861 | 0.674 | |
| 22 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 14 | 1:23.929 | 0.742 |
| 23 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 15 | 1:23.976 | 0.789 | |
| 24 | 7 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 1:24.001 | 0.814 | |
| 25 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 14 | 1:24.012 | 0.825 | |
| 26 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:24.111 | 0.924 | |
| 27 | 303 | M | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1:24.157 | 0.970 |
| 28 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 1:24.259 | 1.072 | |
| 29 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 12 | 1:24.299 | 1.112 | |
| 30 | 61 | Will BURNS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 1:24.858 | 1.671 | |
| 31 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TAG Racing | Volkswagen CC | 12 | 1:24.983 | 1.796 | |
| 32 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 16 | 1:25.520 | 2.333 |