BTCC 2015 Rounds 1-3: Brands Hatch Indy

[BDunnell]

We ought to have a thread for this, really. A very intriguing season in prospect. Tremendous to see Andy Priaulx on pole — quality winning out, as it should. A shame that TOCA should have pegged the RWD cars back for no good reason, but Priaulx showed his class with an immaculate lap. Rob Collard's qualifying performance, so often his weak link, was impressive too. Andy Jordan, by contrast, never looked comfortable in the MG. I wonder how he will fare this year.

A word of praise, incidentally, for Derek Palmer Jr in the Infiniti. I still struggle to see why Infiniti, as a prestige manufacturer, should have put any money into an unknown, inexperienced team with two BTCC rookies behind the wheel, even given the publicity that will emanate from the composition of said team. But for Palmer to not qualify last, in a car that has hardly had any running, is an achievement in itself. OK, he's more than two seconds off pole on a short lap, but even so I thought he'd be last by some margin. A good effort, especially by the team — were the car in the hands of a Plato or a Turkington it could well be in the top half of the grid. And the Q50 looks good.