British Touring Car Championship up-and-comer Daryl DeLeon pipped veteran three-time champion Gordon Shedden to pole position in a thrilling qualifying at Silverstone.
Intermittent rain turned to steady drizzle for the final shootout and it was DeLeon, who was just nine months old when Shedden claimed his first BTCC race win, who prevailed by 0.038 seconds after all six cars were switched from soft Goodyear slicks to rain tyres mid-session.
While there was joy for the front-row men, championship leader Tom Ingram and main title rival Ash Sutton had a nightmare qualifying. Ingram failed to progress beyond Q1 and will line up 13th for race one, while Sutton was comfortably slowest in Q2 and will be just one position ahead.
Ingram and Sutton respectively had just one and three seconds per lap of TOCA Turbo Boost for qualifying on a short circuit that rewards power, meaning it proves more of a handicap on the Silverstone National layout than at almost anywhere else.
DeLeon in his West Surrey Racing BMW 330i M Sport and Shedden, at the wheel of his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport, had the full 15s per lap of TTB, with DeLeon topping the Q2 times in the dry and Shedden the last to make the cut for the Goodyear Quick Six shootout in sixth.
They were the last pair to make the switch to rain tyres during Q3, and this appeared to be an advantage.
“I got the call to box,” said DeLeon. “I was coming round Luffield about to finish the lap so I didn’t really want to!
Daryl DeLeon, WSR BMW 330i M Sport
Photo by: JEP
“But my engineer has got a lot more experience than me. He said, ‘You’ve got four minutes – an out-lap and two push laps – so just go for it.’ I did, and I didn’t even realise I had pole.
“I can’t believe it’s pole – my first ever in touring cars. I’m so happy.”
Reigning champion Jake Hill, on 9s per lap of TTB, reckoned “I went a smidge early” onto the grooved rubber, but that was still good enough to put his WSR BMW into third place on the grid.
Sharing the second row with Hill will be Dan Lloyd with his Restart Racing Hyundai i30 N Fastback, while Josh Cook (Speedworks Toyota) and Senna Proctor, the first to make the switch to rain tyres on his Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai, completed the Quick Six.
Dan Rowbottom was the first not to make the cut from Q2 but will still be the highest-placed of the Alliance Racing-run NAPA Ford Focus ST contingent on the grid. He took seventh, with just 7s per lap of TTB.
Two more WSR BMWs were next, Aiden Moffat heading Charles Rainford, while Aron Taylor-Smith (Speedworks Toyota) and Mikey Doble (Power Maxed Racing Cupra Leon) also finished ahead of Sutton.
Ingram, like Sutton’s Alliance Ford in Q2, paid the price for not only the TTB deficit but also a conservative set-up in case conditions became wetter.
Gordon Shedden, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA Toyota Corolla GR Sport
Photo by: JEP
Sutton himself was arguably lucky to escape Q1, after rain early in the session. In an astonishing display of lack of lateral thinking, the front-wheel-drive teams persisted in their usual tyre-crossing shenanigans. While Sutton had the advantage of being one of the first on track and therefore able to complete a lap before it got too wet, the Excelr8 Hyundais of free practice pacesetter Adam Morgan and Tom Chilton were eliminated.
Regular qualifying star Dan Cammish was also knocked out. His Alliance Ford had lapped third fastest, like Sutton getting in a lap before the rain properly affected the track, but both he and Chilton were excluded for failing the ride-height test and will therefore start from the back of the grid.
BTCC Silverstone – Qualifying results
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