DOWNTON'S Ollie Pidgley matched the best qualifying performance of his maiden season in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship support category at Snetterton.

The 18-year-old impressed from the outset with the ninth fastest time overall and went on to conclude the day with a top 12 time in the second 45-minute session.

Aiming to replicate that sort of performance in qualifying on Saturday morning, the Ciceley Motorsport driver recorded the 10th fastest time, just 0.6 seconds shy of the front row of the grid for round 11, and was the third fastest Graduate Cup runner.

Unfortunately, though, his aim of challenging for his second top 10 finish of the campaign came unstuck on the opening lap of race one on Sunday morning when he was tagged by another car at the Wilson Hairpin, dropping to 16th.

Pidgley’s second best lap in qualifying placed him 15th on the grid for round 12.

Later, the MSA Academy driver took the chequered flag on lap eight in 15th position but a track limits penalty for Shayne Deegan elevated Pidgley into 14th place in the final classification.

“Overall, the races were disappointing in the end but our pace has been good which is the positive thing – we’re getting better and better," he said.