Joshua Jackson put the #27 QE Motorsports Citroen on the Student Motorsport Challenge pole position for the first race of the Donington Park double-header. Jackson lapped in 2:08.634 to go third quickest overall in the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship field.
Qualifying got underway in almost perfect conditions with a dry circuit and ambient temperatures climbing as the 14 cars on the Student Motorsport Challenge took to the 4.02km of the Donington Park GP circuit.
Rory Pickles at the wheel of the #52 Boston College Racing Citroen put the first flying lap time on the board with a 2:12.021.
Haydn Payne then lapped in 2:10.626 in the #72 QE Motorsports Citroen to go quickest of the Challenge grid. Teammate Joshua Jackson in the sister #27 Citroën lapped below 2:10 with a 2:09.004 to go third quickest overall.
Ties continued to fall in a session that was uninterrupted by yellow flags and when the chequered flag came out, it was Joshua Jackson in the #27 QE Motorsports Citroen who took class pole with a 2:08.634 and will start the 15-minute Race One in third overall.
Brady Pollock in the #12 West Suffolk College entry will start second the Challenge grid and 5th overall with a 2:08.817 followed by Challenge standings leader Richard Jepp in the #65 Team Northbrook Racing entry who lapped in 2:09.218 and will start 6th on the overall grid.
“The car felt like it was under me,” said pole-sitter Joshua Jackson. “I went off at the beginning at Redgate but apart from that it was a really solid session. I think there is more in the car for the two races as I struggled to get a good lap in as there was some traffic but hopefully in the races I can go even quicker.”
In a season that is going from strength to strength for the West Suffolk College driver, Brady Pollock was pleased with his qualifying performance.
“Honestly, the season is going a lot better than I expected,” said Brady Pollock. “The car feels great and I’ve adapted well to the front wheel drive. The speed just keeps coming, we keep improving the car and I keep improving within myself. We’re challenging more and more.
“Traffic could play a part in the race. Even in qualifying we backed off to create some distance but we still caught up to people. In the races I don’t think it will be too bad but there may be some incidents behind. Hopefully the race will be a good one but we’ll have to see.”
For Richard Jepp, the qualifying session was also the team’s test session as this was the first time out on track for Team Northbrook Racing at Donington Park.
“The session was really good,” said Richard Jepp. “We’ve not been able to do any testing here this week so that was testing for me. We could see that with each lap, I was gaining more and more time and getting more confidence in the car.
“We’re in a good position so we can definitely race from there.”
The qualifying session was also the first time that TNR’s Ari Barker has been out on track since his testing accident at Oulton Park.
“My personal recovery has been absolutely fine,” said Ari Barker after the session. “The cars are built superbly and did it’s job and I’m amazed to say that after the incident I felt no aches or pains so the car, roll-cage and safety equipment did its job.
“The accident caused the team a lot of work so huge credit to them for getting us to the grid this weekend. It took me a week to source a car and three weeks later the car was built and it’s here so credit to the students and to Team Principal Emma Norton. It’s exam season so they’ve been dipping in and out but huge credit and thanks to everyone at Team Northbrook Racing.
The first of two 15-minute races gets underway at 12.10 on Sunday June the 23rd.