Surpised Turner Secures First Diesel Pole
Jun 01, 2008
DarrenTurner
DARREN Turner has given SEAT Sport UK’s Leon TDI its first pole after a dramatic qualifying session at Croft, near Darlington yesterday.
Turner had to sit out half of the 30-minute session after damaging the front of his car, yet will still start Round 13 of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship today after setting an unbeaten 1:25.825.
Jason Plato set his best time on his final flying lap, setting a 1:26.027 with a Leon TDI carrying 36kgs of success ballast. Turner’s first flying lap ended with a high-speed excursion through the gravel trap at the first corner, Clervaux.
Darren Turner admitted he was pleasantly surprised to secure the first diesel pole position in the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Croft.
The SEAT Sport UK driver survived a trip through the gravel at Clervaux to secure top spot during the session with a lap of 1min 25.825secs although there was a brief scare when his Leon TDi failed the ride height test and Turner has his times disallowed.
However, it soon became apparent that the failure had been due to a stone becoming lodged in the splitter of the car which in turn had pushed the splitter lower to the ground and the times were reinstated. Unfortunately the damage to the splitter meant that Turner was then sidelined for the remainder of the session although no-one was able to beat his time.
“I’m happy with pole and it’s a nice surprise that I didn’t expect. I’m not a huge fan of Croft and it is a very challenging circuit. But pole is great and JP did a good lap with the ballast onboard, so it looks good for us for the race.”
