MG’s Jason Plato beat team-mate Sam Tordoff by 0.380 seconds in first practice for the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park as his MG KX Momentum Racing Team set the pace.
Click here for the full first practice times.
Track temperatures were already at 30 degrees for the start of the session and that played into the hands of the MG drivers as Plato set a 1:26.407 on his first flying lap, a time that would have been fastest overall had he not eclipsed that with a 1:26.227 five minutes from the end of the session.
Plato’s time was four-tenths-of-a-second faster than the time he achieved or pole position last year, and the only other driver to dip under that benchmark was Tordoff, who had a late burst to depose Gordon Shedden from second with a 1:26.607.
Having briefly split the MGs, Shedden ended the session in third, half a second down on Plato, with Andrew Jordan a further two tenths back. Colin Turkington was the only driver to break the MG/Honda dominance, as he finis and Matt Neal the next runners behind the Scotsman.
Rob Austin confirmed that he will be one to watch this weekend with a confidence-boosting run to ninth place, 1.497 down on Plato, although his teammate Will Bratt was nearly two seconds further back in 21st.
Lea Wood was by far the fastest of the Jack Sear contenders, setting a 1:28.619 to go 16th fastest, ahead of the likes of Jeff Smith and Nick Foster. Wood scored his best BTCC result of fifth here last year, and was more than a second and a half ahead of his nearest competitor, Liam Griffin, with debutante Aaron Mason doing a fine job eight-tenths-of-a-second further back.
Despite being a frantic session, track activity was twice interrupted by red flags. Jeff Smith became the first driver to crash at the circuit this weekend when he brought practice to a stop at the midway point, while James Cole was the other driver to bring out a red flag, shortly after setting his fastest time of the session.
Initially this weekend looked set to have the biggest of the season so far, but Andy Neate’s decision not to run, coupled with Joe Girling’s withdrawal on medical grounds means that 26 cars will take to the grid this weekend. Of those, Warren Scott was the only driver not to set a time in first practice in his Seat Leon.
Second practice takes place at 12:45 BST.