Eurotech Racing’s Jack Goff took his third pole position of the season in qualifying for the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch, as BMW’s title challenger Colin Turkington could only manage 17th after technical dramas.
Goff, who had earlier been second fastest in the day’s second practice session, went to the top of the times on his first real flying lap after two red-flag stoppages inside the first ten minutes meant the session took some time to properly get going.
The first stoppage was in fact due to Goff’s team-mate Brett Smith going off the circuit in the first few minutes at Druids corner when early rain caused the circuit to become slippery. Points leader Ash Sutton was also one of those caught out early on by the inclement conditions.
Another red flag pause was then required shortly after the session resumed, as MG’s Josh Cook slid off into the tyre barrier at Paddock Hill Bend and beached his car in the gravel.
Around the same time, Turkington encountered electrical issues which prevented his BMW’s engine from re-starting, leading to tense faces in the WSR camp, who just minutes earlier had been forced to withdraw the sister car for Rob Collard on medical grounds.
After over ten minutes of investigating the issue, Turkington was eventually able to re-join the session and post competitive lap times, although the two-time champion could only manage 17th in a challenging session for Team BMW.
Upon the resumption of the session, Goff was one of the first to go to the top of the times, initially with an effort of 1 minute 31.577 seconds before the Eurotech racer then improved twice in quick succession, posting the fastest lap of 1:30.802 after 11 minutes of action.
Ciceley Motorsport’s Aiden Moffat ended up in second, having also moved to the sharp end of the times around a third of the way through the session, although third-fastest Sutton initially put his car on the front row in second, before Moffat improved to re-take the position in final minutes.
Sutton will thus start race one from third, with the Handy Motorsport Toyota of Rob Austin alongside in fourth.
Power Maxed Racing’s Tom Chilton emerged in fifth after rising from 18th with just minutes to go to crack the top ten for the third time this season.
Matt Neal was the leading Honda in sixth, ahead of Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram in seventh, who was very briefly fastest after 12 minutes.
Team HARD’s Jake Hill was an impressive eighth fastest, ahead of the second Ciceley Mercedes of Adam Morgan in ninth, just over half a second off the pace.
Subaru’s Jason Plato completed the top ten, having slipped by three places inside the final minute of the session.
Honda’s Gordon Shedden, who is hoping to keep Ingram at bay to hold on to third overall in the championship, could only manage 16th position, spelling the end of his mathematical title chances.
Turkington’s only WSR team-mate, Andrew Jordan, could only manage 18th, directly behind the Northern Irishman, as the BMWs failed to show strong pace.
Race one takes place at 11:37 BST on Sunday.
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 31 | Jack GOFF |  |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1:30.802 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 1:31.159 | 0.357 | |
| 3 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 15 | 1:31.165 | 0.363 |
| 4 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 14 | 1:31.261 | 0.459 | |
| 5 | 2 | M | Tom CHILTON | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 13 | 1:31.283 | 0.481 |
| 6 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 1:31.289 | 0.487 |
| 7 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 14 | 1:31.304 | 0.502 | |
| 8 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TAG Racing | Volkswagen CC | 12 | 1:31.307 | 0.505 | |
| 9 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 1:31.332 | 0.530 | |
| 10 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 15 | 1:31.345 | 0.543 |
| 11 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 16 | 1:31.414 | 0.612 | |
| 12 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 13 | 1:31.417 | 0.615 | |
| 13 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 14 | 1:31.455 | 0.653 |
| 14 | 303 | M | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 1:31.501 | 0.699 |
| 15 | 3 | Mat JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 17 | 1:31.504 | 0.702 | |
| 16 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:31.592 | 0.790 |
| 17 | 4 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 13 | 1:31.598 | 0.796 |
| 18 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 1:31.609 | 0.807 |
| 19 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 15 | 1:31.636 | 0.834 | |
| 20 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 17 | 1:31.673 | 0.871 | |
| 21 | 40 | M | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH |  |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 16 | 1:31.693 | 0.891 |
| 22 | 10 | Ant WHORTON-EALES | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 16 | 1:31.693 | 0.891 | |
| 23 | 20 | M | James COLE | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 1:31.703 | 0.901 |
| 24 | 28 | M | Josh PRICE | |
A-Plan Academy | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 1:32.011 | 1.209 |
| 25 | 7 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 1:32.208 | 1.406 | |
| 26 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 14 | 1:32.231 | 1.429 | |
| 27 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 15 | 1:32.440 | 1.638 | |
| 28 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 1:33.781 | 2.979 | |
| 29 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 3 | No time | N/A | |
| 30 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 1 | No time | N/A | |
| WD | 5 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | – | No time | N/A |