Colin Turkington admitted he was elated to head up the second row of the grid for the opening British Touring Car Championship race of the season at Brands Hatch, after a difficult start to the season through practice and qualifying.
The 2017 runner-up had his work cut out fine-tuning the setup on his BMW 125i M Sport throughout the two practice sessions, which suffered from unpredictable weather conditions and a green track surface after rain on Friday night.
A technical issue also forced the 2009 and 2014 champion to miss the second half of FP2, putting him on the back foot for qualifying.
His best time of 48.143 seconds was just 0.105s adrift of pole-sitter Jack Goff’s Honda Civic Type R.
“We’re very pleased with today’s final results – indeed third on the grid is more than I thought we were capable of,” admitted Turkington.
“We’ve had a difficult day through free practice, trying to tune the car to the track conditions, but so many people along the pitlane were in the same boat.
“Track time is so important, and to sacrifice half of FP2 puts you on the back foot, so I was pleased to have had an early clear lap in qualifying and set a good time.
“Once again, the team has got the car on the money when it counts and it’s been another good day for Team BMW.”