Airwaves BMW endured a difficult qualifying session which saw both of their drivers fail to qualify inside the top ten for the first of tomorrow‘s three races.

Both drivers had shown good pace in the practice sessions earlier in the day and at the beginning of qualifying it seemed as if this form would continue, with Jackson even heading the times at one point. However, disaster struck when Jackson failed a ride height check, with just minutes of the session remaining, meaning all of his times were wiped. Jackson could only manage two hot laps before the chequered flag fell, ending up 13^th fastest.

He said, “We got the most from the car we could, just struggling again with the turbos. It will be an exciting race tomorrow but I feel some of the other cars on the grid are hiding something because the qualifying times could be from a totally different championship – on the straights they are just gone.”

Jackson’s team mate Steven Kane was able to set the 11^th fastest time, not an ideal starting place from which to defend his lead of the independents championship.

Kane said, “For me personally it was a disappointing session. I feel I should have been a little bit quicker and obviously we’re lacking the straight-line speed which cost us here and at Snetterton. This was always going to be a tough circuit for the team but it’s frustrating as Silverstone is right up there as one of my favourites. I want to perform well here but tomorrow is another day and I know where we can find a little more from the car. I’m looking forward to getting a result.”

The gap to the Fords is clearly something that bothers the team and this was reflected in team manager Oliver Collins’ words, “In the end a disappointing qualifying session. We were relatively happy after this morning’s session and confident going in to qualifying. Unfortunately it would seem some of our competitors are able to turn the wick up and we just don’t have that ability. 5th was a realistic target and we’re wide of the mark but still confident of a good race car tomorrow. I don’t think we can touch the turbo cars or the Chevys so we may need a bit of luck, or rain!”

Photo credit: PSP images

Tom Surgay is the Porsche Carrera Cup GB correspondant for 2011. Tom's currently studying English Language with Journalism at Huddersfield University. You can contact him at tom@btcccrazy.co.uk or on twitter @tsurgay.