WSR’s Daryl DeLeon made British Touring Car Championship history on Saturday as he stormed to his first career pole position in a dramatic weather-affected qualifying session at Silverstone.
Daryl, 20, became the first Filipino driver to claim a pole position in the series and did so in dominant fashion as he topped each of his three portions of qualifying aboard his BMW 330i M Sport.
Having already set the pace in Q1 and Q2 – the latter in the best time across the day of 56.734 seconds – the Cambridgeshire-based driver gambled on two pitstops during the 10-minute ‘Quick Six’ pole shoot-out as a rainshower created a slippery surface.
Not only having wet tyres fitted, but allowing additional grip-enhancing set-up changes to be made, proved beneficial as he surged to the top spot in the final minute by just 0.038 seconds.
Daryl’s historic achievement also ensured his was the highest-qualifying driver competing for the Jack Sears Trophy, which he leads by 14 points with six races to go and 120 points still available.
It was the third pole position of the year for WSR and came at the same track where the team made a winning race debut in 1981 and scored their first BTCC victory in 1998.
Reigning champion Jake Hill starts third following a spin in Q3 seconds after he had taken over the top spot.
The Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver, who has won at Silverstone in each of the past four seasons, was just 0.212s behind Daryl but retains a superb chance of scoring a big points haul across Sunday’s trio of races.
LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR’s Aiden Moffat and Charles Rainford start eighth and ninth; Scottish driver Aiden recording his best qualifying result of the year.
Aiden had run in the top six in both practice sessions and easily progressed through Q1 as he showed strong and consistent speed as he chases podium finishes on Sunday.
Team-mate Charles, who is Daryl’s closest challenger for the Jack Sears Trophy, will start one row behind and showed evidence of his inherent speed by topping his Q1 group, ahead of Jake.
The first of Sunday’s three races begins at 1130. All three will be broadcast live in the UK on ITV4 and globally (minus the UK and USA) on the BTCC YouTube channel.
Daryl DeLeon, WSR: “I’m over the moon with my first BTCC pole. We’ve had a really strong day; fastest in FP1 and second in FP2, but things got a bit interesting when it started spitting at the beginning of qualifying. In Q1 I was on slick tyres on a damp track and it was hard to find a rhythm, but I managed to get into Q2 and Q3. Then in Q3 I was on slicks at first so I made two pitstops in the 10 minutes, took wet tyres and then had three laps to get a time in on the wets. It was close, but it was just enough for pole. I’m so happy so a huge thanks to WSR for all the hard work they’ve put in to make the BMW quick. This is dedicated to them.”
Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport: “It’s been a pretty good day. Third in qualifying with my team-mate Daryl on pole, a great day for WSR as a team. I’m really looking forwards to tomorrow for Race One as I’m starting in a really good position and fingers crossed we can go and have a great day.”
Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR: “It was a really good day for WSR in general. We’ve had a challenging season at points, but everyone’s kept working so hard and the BMWs have been in a really good place all day. In Q1 in our group I was near the top and then myself and Charles both only just missed out on Q3. We crossed over our tyres and I don’t think the pressures were quite right for the conditions, so we didn’t quite make it, but it’s looking good for tomorrow.”
Charles Rainford, LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR: “Okay so we’re not best pleased with our qualifying. We had tricky conditions and a well-performing BMW, but circumstances beyond our control prevented us from qualifying higher. Congratulations to Daryl on his pole, which is fantastic for the team, but I think all the BMWs were fast today. They say you can’t win the race in qualifying, but we’ll be looking up the field tomorrow for sure.”
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal: “It’s been an excellent day; Daryl’s first pole position in the BTCC, our third from the nine events this year, and all four BMWs have qualified in the top 10 as well. We’ve had good speed across the day, especially with Daryl, who was fastest in FP1 and in all his sections of qualifying. If it’s wet or dry tomorrow, it looks like we’re in good shape with Jake, Aiden and Charles too so we’ll be making sure we have four cars on the grid tomorrow with the best possible chance of winning.”
