Tom Ingram ended the opening British Touring Car Championship practice session of the weekend at Croft with the fastest time, ahead of West Surrey Racing’s Andy Priaulx and the Eurotech Honda Civic of Martin Depper.
Priaulx had led for much of the 40-minute session, but Ingram’s final lap of 1:24.567s put him more than six-tenths clear of the rest of the field in his Toyota Avensis.
After a traditionally slow start to proceedings, Guernseyman Priaulx jumped to the top of the times with a 1:25.223s well into the session to usurp Colin Turkington.
Gordon Shedden then made his mark, posting a time just 0.044s slower than the BMW to slot into second, before an impressive lap from Depper put him even closer to Priaulx’s effort, with a 1:25.235s.
Those near misses appeared to suggest that Priaulx would keep hold of the fastest time, but Ingram’s lap after the chequered flag had fallen put him some distance ahead of those gaggled behind.
Shedden held fourth in his Honda Civic ahead of the best-placed Team BMR car of Aron Smith in fifth. Adam Morgan was next up ahead of early pacesetter Turkington, while Jack Goff, Matt Neal and Jeff Smith completed the top ten, with championship leader Jason Plato in 15th.
The session marked the first time in 2015 that 30 cars took to the track, with Nicolas Hamilton and Max Coates making their respective debuts for AmD Tuning and Support Our Paras Racing. The pair ended the session together in 26th and 27th, racking up a combined 38 laps in their first competitive taste of BTCC machinery.
Second practice gets underway at 12:00 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 80 | Tom INGRAM |  |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 18 | 1:24.567 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 111 | C | Andy PRIAULX | |
Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:25.223 | 0.656 |
| 3 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 18 | 1:25.235 | 0.668 | |
| 4 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:25.267 | 0.700 |
| 5 | 40 | Árón SMITH |  |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 1:25.454 | 0.887 | |
| 6 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 19 | 1:25.494 | 0.927 | |
| 7 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 18 | 1:25.819 | 1.252 | |
| 8 | 31 | M | Jack GOFF | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 19 | 1:25.912 | 1.345 |
| 9 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:25.964 | 1.397 |
| 10 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 16 | 1:25.979 | 1.412 | |
| 11 | 6 | C | Rob COLLARD | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 1:25.986 | 1.419 |
| 12 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 17 | 1:26.114 | 1.547 |
| 13 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 19 | 1:26.264 | 1.697 | |
| 14 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 18 | 1:26.289 | 1.722 | |
| 15 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 8 | 1:26.298 | 1.731 | |
| 16 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 21 | 1:26.305 | 1.738 | |
| 17 | 7 | C | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:26.525 | 1.958 |
| 18 | 101 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 16 | 1:26.576 | 2.009 | |
| 19 | 39 | Warren SCOTT | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 20 | 1:26.794 | 2.227 | |
| 20 | 54 | Hunter ABBOTT | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 11 | 1:27.013 | 2.446 | |
| 21 | 14 | Alex MARTIN | |
Dextra Racing | Ford Focus | 17 | 1:27.845 | 3.278 | |
| 22 | 11 | Simon BELCHER | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 18 | 1:28.260 | 3.693 | |
| 23 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
AmD Tuning.com | Ford Focus | 14 | 1:28.454 | 3.887 | |
| 24 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Houseman Racing | Toyota Avensis | 20 | 1:28.552 | 3.985 | |
| 25 | 22 | Derek PALMER Jr | |
Support Our Paras Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 21 | 1:28.898 | 4.331 | |
| 26 | 28 | G | Nic HAMILTON | |
AmD Tuning.com | Audi S3 | 20 | 1:29.839 | 5.272 |
| 27 | 71 | Max COATES | |
Support Our Paras Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 17 | 1:29.947 | 5.380 | |
| 28 | 13 | Dan WELCH | |
Welch Motorsport | Proton Gen-2 | 19 | 1:29.994 | 5.427 | |
| 29 | 12 | Andy WILMOT | |
Welch Motorsport | Proton Gen-2 | 9 | 1:31.653 | 7.086 | |
| 30 | 23 | Kieran GALLAGHER | |
RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | 3 | 1:55.896 | 31.329 |