Subaru’s Ash Sutton posted the fastest time in a wet first British Touring Car Championship practice session at Croft, ahead of a strong showing by the Honda of Matt Simpson.
Sutton was on top of the times throughout the 40-minute session, initially posting a time of 1:31.747 before improving inside the final ten minutes to end the sodden session with a time of 1:31.657.
The Team Dynamics-run Honda of Simpson was second, showing his best pace of the season with a time just over four tenths off the pace.
Third fastest was Jason Plato, who ended up 0.444 seconds shy of his team-mate, with the double champion having received an additional increase in boost ahead of the previous round at Oulton Park.
Handy Motorsport’s Rob Austin was fourth fastest, ahead of the leading Honda of defending champion Gordon Shedden in fifth.
The leading BMW driver was Northern Irishman Colin Turkington in sixth, ahead of Eurotech Racing’s Jack Goff and MG’s Árón Taylor-Smith, who was the last driver to be within a second of the pace.
Josh Price enjoyed a season’s-best showing by putting his Subaru inside the top ten in ninth, ahead of Speedworks’ Motorsport’s Tom Ingram in tenth, with the Toyota driver having endured an off-track incident in the session causing front-end damage to his car.
On his return to MG, Josh Cook ended up with the 12th quickest lap, having at one stage been third fastest before other drivers beat his time.
BTCC rookie Dennis Strandberg ended his first practice session in 24th, with the Swede being just over two seconds off the pace in his Maximum Motorsport Ford Focus.
Second practice takes place at 12:00 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON |  |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 17 | 1:31.657 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 303 | M | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 12 | 1:32.086 | 0.429 |
| 3 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 17 | 1:32.101 | 0.444 |
| 4 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 14 | 1:32.277 | 0.620 | |
| 5 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:32.345 | 0.688 |
| 6 | 4 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:32.375 | 0.718 |
| 7 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:32.568 | 0.911 | |
| 8 | 40 | M | Árón SMITH |  |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 17 | 1:32.605 | 0.948 |
| 9 | 28 | M | Josh PRICE | |
BMR Racing Academy | Subaru Levorg GT | 17 | 1:32.824 | 1.167 |
| 10 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 15 | 1:32.842 | 1.185 | |
| 11 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 19 | 1:32.934 | 1.277 | |
| 12 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 18 | 1:32.947 | 1.290 | |
| 13 | 2 | M | Tom CHILTON | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 1:32.970 | 1.313 |
| 14 | 3 | Mat JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 15 | 1:32.976 | 1.319 | |
| 15 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 21 | 1:33.000 | 1.343 | |
| 16 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1:33.048 | 1.391 |
| 17 | 17 | David NEWSHAM | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 17 | 1:33.065 | 1.408 | |
| 18 | 5 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 11 | 1:33.120 | 1.463 |
| 19 | 20 | M | James COLE | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 17 | 1:33.220 | 1.563 |
| 20 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:33.278 | 1.621 | |
| 21 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 17 | 1:33.293 | 1.636 |
| 22 | 10 | Ant WHORTON-EALES | |
AmDtuning.com with CobraExhausts | Audi S3 | 18 | 1:33.325 | 1.668 | |
| 23 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TAG Racing | Volkswagen CC | 13 | 1:33.593 | 1.936 | |
| 24 | 95 | Dennis STRANDBERG |  |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 17 | 1:33.694 | 2.037 | |
| 25 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 14 | 1:33.705 | 2.048 |
| 26 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 12 | 1:33.710 | 2.053 | |
| 27 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 1:33.808 | 2.151 | |
| 28 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmDtuning.com with CobraExhausts | Audi S3 | 15 | 1:33.820 | 2.163 | |
| 29 | 61 | Will BURNS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 1:34.125 | 2.468 | |
| 30 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 18 | 1:34.162 | 2.505 | |
| 31 | 300 | Luke DAVENPORT | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 17 | 1:34.173 | 2.516 | |
| 32 | 7 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 16 | 1:34.177 | 2.520 |