Turkington revels in 'special' Oulton Park pole lap

Reigning British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington has admitted clinching pole position for tomorrow's opening race at Oulton Park 'exceeded his expectations'.

The Team BMW driver produced a sensational lap to secure pole position by a slender 0.027s margin ahead of AmD's Sam Tordoff, despite running the full 52 kilos of success ballast for the 30-minute qualifying shootout.

Despite the field having to contend with ferocious track temperatures exceeding the 50 degree marker, light rainfall caused a frenzy as the green flag fell.

Although the rain did little to affect the track, Turkington, among others, set a banker early on, which turned out to be good enough for pole position as the track slowed as the session progressed.

Turkington said the opening sequence of laps proved to be a perfect storm for him with the three-time champion also benefiting from a double tow on his best lap.

"For sure it was a special lap," Turkington told Crash.net. "I knew when I went over the line. I was even surprised when I saw the time on the dash. It just all clicked. I got everything pinpoint on the lap.

"The track was at its best and that was the first time I’ve been on new rubber all weekend. I got a bit of a tow as well. Everything set up perfectly for me.

"I’m really pleased and it’s exceeded my expectations.

"When we left the pits there was a few spots of rain so maybe the first couple of laps were steady to see where the track was. I was pushing hard to try and get a good banker in. The car was the best it had been by quite a stretch."

Crucially, in terms of the championship picture, Turkington's nearest rival comes in form of his team mate Andrew Jordan, while Ashley Sutton and Josh Cook languished further down the order in 14th and 22nd.

"It was one of those days when we had everything spot on. I’m really pleased with the lap. I felt like I extracted everything and it’s rewarding when you do that," Turkington continued.

"Obviously tomorrow is the day but you have to enjoy the pole positions. It gives me a good chance to score well tomorrow.

"I’m just pleased with the job that we’ve done today because I don’t think any of us expected to be fighting for pole. It was one of those special laps and probably benefited from a double tow, it all came together."