Charles Rainford masterfully claimed his first Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship Snetterton victory as he dominated the Race to Pole this afternoon (Saturday). Rainford took the lead on the opening lap and controlled the pace to bring his BMW home after 8 laps to secure the best starting position for Sunday’s triple-header.
Team VERTU’s Tom Chilton started from first, initially holding off Rainford into turn one as the WSR man attempted a brave move around the outside. However, he would have to wait a few corners further before he stoutly moved past the Hyundai i30N into a lead that wouldn’t be relinquished. Chilton slid back to fourth as a result of the move, before being given a five-second time penalty for a jump start.
Josh Cook moved up into second as a result, followed by Ash Sutton’s NAPA Racing UK Ford. However, Sutton’s hard work, which saw him move up from eighth to third on the first lap, would be in vain, as the four-time champion suffered a puncture on lap three, which took him out of contention.
The top two began to scramble into the distance as reigning champion Tom Ingram battled his way past Dan Cammish into third place, while Chilton held fifth. The lead Hyundai had to defend from the Ford Focus Titanium behind, but Cammish eventually began to drop back into the jaws of Chilton.
Up front, Rainford faultlessly claimed his first Race to Pole victory to return WSR back to pole position for tomorrow, with Josh Cook an impressive second for Speedworks Corolla Racing. Tom Ingram came home in third with Dan Cammish following closely behind in fourth.
The Cataclean Plato Racing Mercedes A35 Saloon of Daniel Rowbottom was promoted to fifth, with Daryl De Leon sixth and Adam Morgan in seventh. Chilton’s penalty demoted him to eighth, while James Dorlin and Sam Osborne rounded out the top ten for Restart Racing and NAPA Racing UK, respectively.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Snetterton, Race to Pole
- Charles Rainford, WSR, BMW 330i M Sport
- Josh Cook, Speedworks Corolla Racing, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +1.991s
- Tom Ingram, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +3.842s
- Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus Titanium, +4.305s
- Daniel Rowbottom, Cataclean Plato Racing, Mercedes A35 Saloon, +6.118s
- Daryl De Leon, WSR, BMW 330i M Sport, +6.252s
- Adam Morgan, Cataclean Plato Racing, Mercedes A35 Saloon, +9.222s
- Tom Chilton, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +9.537s
- James Dorlin, Restart Racing, Hyundai i30N, +9.687s
- Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus Titanium, +11.456s
Click here for full results and times from this weekend's event.