WSR’s Daryl De Leon will start Sunday’s opening British Touring Car Championship race from the second row of the grid after enjoying a strong Saturday at Silverstone.
The Anglo-Filipino driver, who will make his 100th BTCC start in Race 1 at the Home of British Motor Racing, qualified second and took the lead as the lights went out on what proved to be a frenetic ‘Race to Pole’.
Holding off pole-sitter Mikey Doble aboard his BMW 330i M Sport on the opening lap, the 21-year-old went wheel-to-wheel on the following tour and despite relinquishing the position, he remained within striking distance of top spot.
Daryl’s front-running pace saw him loom large in the mirrors of the race leader for a large portion of the race before he was caught late on and dropped to fourth, securing him a strong second row start for race day.
Team-mate Charles Rainford, running a new livery for the final two rounds of the season, experienced a similar race to Daryl as he too showcased strong pace after starring in the first qualifying group.
The Horsham-based racer lined up fourth and ran comfortably in fifth before some robust battling late on saw him shuffle back to seventh at the chequered flag.
Hot on the heels of enjoying his best weekend to-date at Croft, Lewis Gilbert continued his fledgling touring car career with another strong performance in his rear-wheel-drive machine.
Like his two team-mates, the 22-year-old Scot was embroiled in a number of close-quarter battles. Impressively holding his own, Lewis was able to progress from 20th to 18th.
Daryl De Leon: “We had a solid morning in practice and then qualifying proved to be really eventful. I lost a lap for track limits and then we had a puncture late on which forced me to pit. We managed to get back out there and despite having cold tyres, we secured a spot on the front row. In the Qualifying Race I was then able to get the jump off the line but then lost out down the straights. We still finished inside the top four and we’re at the sharp end tomorrow. It will be a big push around the Home of British Motor Racing.”
Charles Rainford: “That’s Saturday done and we’ve now just got one more Qualifying Race of the season. Overall it was a good day, we had a few little things that got away from us but there are opportunities for tomorrow. We’ve got a strong race car so I’m looking forward to hopefully moving forward. It’s full focus on the Independents’ Trophy and with a few tweaks I think we can be in the mix for some trophies.”
Lewis Gilbert: “I’m a little bit disappointed because we had a slight problem with the boost, and we ultimately didn’t have it for every lap like we should have. That meant we lost time, but we certainly did the best we could to make up for it. The car certainly has the speed so hopefully we can push on tomorrow and see where we can get to.”
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal: “It was a good day for the team. Daryl did fantastic to secure a spot on the front row and had it not been for a little drop-off in performance late on, he would have comfortably held second place. Charles and Lewis also produced strong showings and that bodes well for us as a team tomorrow. Around what is a fast circuit, all three cars have demonstrated that they have good pace and now we need to refine that for race day.”
