Silverline Subaru BMR’s Colin Turkington topped the timesheets at the first free practice session for the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, as the season resumes this weekend at Snetterton.
The Ulsterman set his best laptime of a 1:56.547 with just 90 seconds remaining, having kept his Subaru Levorg GT at the front from the halfway point in the 40-minute session, as the track temperature steadily increased with the sunshine starting to emerge form the initial cloud cover.
Championship points leader Team JCT600 with GardX’s Sam Tordoff was 0.494 seconds off Turkington, despite coming into the race weekend with full success ballast. MG RCIB Insurance Racing’s Ashley Sutton was the best of the rookie drivers, completing the top three, who were separated by 0.584 seconds.
Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan was fourth in his Motorbase-run Ford Focus, as initial pacesetter Adam Morgan made it five different manufacturers in the top five.
Team BKR’s Árón Smith posted the sixth fastest time in his newly-liveried Volkswagen CC, ahead of the MG of Josh Cook and Tom Ingram. Mat Jackson placed ninth highest, as the Ford driver was 0.388 seconds slower than team mate Jordan.
James Cole completed the top ten in his Subaru, which was separated by 1.077 seconds, as Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden set their best lap times in the dying seconds, placing 11th and 12th respectively.
Handy Motorsports Rob Austin was pipped by both Honda drivers in 13th, but was 0.011 seconds ahead of Jason Plato, with Matt Simpson and Michael Epps behind the two-time champion. The pair initially featured in the top five during the session, which saw Epps go as high as third with 18 minutes elapsed.
Rob Collard was 1.510 seconds off the pace set by Turkington, down in 19th place, 0.005 seconds ahead of Eurotech Racing’s Jeff Smith. BTCC returnee Michael Caine was 27th fastest in the TLC Racing Toyota Avensis.
Second free practice for the BTCC takes place at 12:05 British Summer Time, lasting for 40 minutes.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 4 | M | Colin TURKINGTON |  |
Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 14 | 1:56.547 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 600 | C | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 13 | 1:57.041 | 0.494 |
| 3 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 14 | 1:57.131 | 0.584 |
| 4 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 14 | 1:57.179 | 0.632 | |
| 5 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 1:57.249 | 0.702 | |
| 6 | 40 | Árón SMITH |  |
BKR | Volkswagen CC | 17 | 1:57.279 | 0.732 | |
| 7 | 66 | M | Josh COOK | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 14 | 1:57.471 | 0.924 |
| 8 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 16 | 1:57.530 | 0.983 | |
| 9 | 7 | Mat JACKSON | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 10 | 1:57.567 | 1.020 | |
| 10 | 20 | M | James COLE | |
Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 15 | 1:57.624 | 1.077 |
| 11 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 12 | 1:57.654 | 1.107 |
| 12 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 10 | 1:57.671 | 1.124 |
| 13 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 14 | 1:57.683 | 1.136 | |
| 14 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 13 | 1:57.692 | 1.145 |
| 15 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:57.810 | 1.263 | |
| 16 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | 12 | 1:57.836 | 1.289 | |
| 17 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 1:57.926 | 1.379 | |
| 18 | 53 | Hunter ABBOTT | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 15 | 1:57.941 | 1.394 | |
| 19 | 100 | C | Rob COLLARD | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 12 | 1:58.057 | 1.510 |
| 20 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:58.062 | 1.515 | |
| 21 | 39 | M | Warren SCOTT | |
Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 14 | 1:58.104 | 1.557 |
| 22 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD Tuning | Audi S3 | 15 | 1:58.311 | 1.764 | |
| 23 | 31 | C | Jack GOFF | |
Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 13 | 1:58.370 | 1.823 |
| 24 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | 10 | 1:58.475 | 1.928 | |
| 25 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 13 | 1:58.530 | 1.983 | |
| 26 | 38 | Mark HOWARD | |
BKR | Volkswagen CC | 14 | 1:58.794 | 2.247 | |
| 27 | 88 | Michael CAINE | |
TLC Racing | Toyota Avensis | 14 | 1:58.819 | 2.272 | |
| 28 | 14 | Alex MARTIN | |
Dextra Racing with Team Parker | Ford Focus | 12 | 1:58.961 | 2.414 | |
| 29 | 84 | Kelvin FLETCHER | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 14 | 2:00.744 | 4.197 | |
| 30 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 14 | 2:01.552 | 5.005 |