Matt Neal set the pace in a damp first practice session for the British Touring Car Championship at Rockingham, as Honda’s finished 1-2-3 in the session with Gordon Shedden second and Andrew Jordan third.
Click here for the full first practice times.
Japanese cars seemed to be the cars to have in first practice, as three Honda’s and three Toyota’s made it into the top ten. Dave Newsham put in a fast lap late in the session to take fourth in his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota. Dynojet’s Frank Wrathall finished fifth and was the last driver within a second of the pace.
Will Bratt was an impressive sixth overall in his Rob Austin Racing Audi, despite a spin, finishing ahead of the top MG driven by Sam Tordoff.
Airwaves Racing’s Mat Jackson, MG’s Jason Plato and Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan completed the top ten.
Colin Turkington was the top eBay Motors driver in 13th, as he struggled on a cold and damp track, with temperatures hovering around a chilly ten degree mark at the Northamptonshire circuit.
Series returnee Howard Fuller was 17th fastest in the Team HARD Vauxhall Insignia, beating more experienced team-mate Jack Goff who was 19th, returning to the series after opting to miss the Knockhill meeting.
On his first competitive weekend in the third Airwaves Racing Ford, having switched from Team HARD since the last round, Tom Onslow-Cole posted the 18th quickest time.
Making his BTCC début this weekend, Andy Wilmot was 25th fastest in the Team HARD Vokswagen Passat vacated by Onslow-Cole.
Lea Wood was the fastest driver in the Jack Sears’ Trophy in 24th, with only three drivers represented in the category this weekend after AmD Tuning withdrew James Kaye from the meeting due to budgetary constraints.
The session was red-flagged after 13 minutes when Liam Griffin spun and beeched his car in the gravel. The Motorbase driver finished the session down in 26th.
Second free practice takes place at 12:40 BST (13:40 CEST).