Team BMW's Ricky Collard has admi♎tted he surpassed his own expectations after securing a sensational front-row qualifying result for tomorrow's opening British Touring Car Championship race at Silverstone.

Standing in for his injured father Ro🔜b Collard at West Surrey Racing, Collard Jr produced a stu🔯nning performance to qualify as the highest BMW driver on only his third weekend in the BTCC.

Collard came within 0.018s of denying Motorbase Perform𝓀ance's Sam Tordoff his first BTCC pole of the season.

"It’s a credit to the team," Collard told ltxcn.top. "I don’t even think I drove very well. I think I droveꦍ qui𒐪te well in the free practice sessions. Again, that may come back to the inexperience. I was having some big slides.

"I was thinking ‘I’ve lost a couple of te♛nths here’ but I looked back down on my delta and it was quicker.

"My dad [Rob Collard] told me these cars like to move around and not to worry if they slide. I was trying to focus on letting it slide and having some fun. I’m just super pumped for tomorrow. I♕’m supꦦer excited now.

"I said before I went out ‘I’d liꦑke a top-ten’. I was P26 at Rockingham and P12 at Knockhill. I had the aim of chipping inside𝓀 the top-ten but yeah, front row!"

Looking ahead of tomorrow's opening race, Collard Jr is confident he can get the jump on Tordoff at the s🧔tart of the race as the BMW Motorsport Junior driver vies for what would be a famousꦺ debut win in the series.

"I’m excited. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow because I know we can get a good start. I’ve always had good starts. I’m sure Tordoff will make a blinding start like he al💮ways does," Collard continued.

"If you actually look at the Fords, they get goo෴d starts. I’ve just got to ma🃏ke sure I get a good start and capitalise into turn one.

"I’m excited to be at t🐟he front a bit more and out of the carnage, especially with the whole grid being covered by so little!

"If you make one small mistake in the race it’s going to be really𓃲 costly. There’s a lot of right handers so if you get pushed wide you can come out of sync."