With the Touring cars being only the second session of the day and the Northamptonshire circuit having had heavy rain overnight, first practice was always going to be tricky.
Colin Turkington was first out to start the 40 minute session on the short 1.64 mile National Silverstone circuit and for the first few laps, fastest lap went in quick succession to Tom Ingram, Colin Turkington, Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal and Michael Epps.
Just 10 minutes in and Turkington’s BMW 125i MSport was being pushed down the pit lane due to an electrical fault, which was not the start the Irishman needed. Fortunately, Team BMW were able to deal with the fault and get him back on track, but by that time almost half of the session had already elapsed.
In the meantime, BTC Norlin Racing’s Dave Newsham had taken fastest lap with a 1:06.294 and this time was good enough to keep him at the top of the timing sheet for most of the session.
As the track started to dry, the teams were spending a lot of time in the pits changing set up but no one seemed to be able to match Newsham’s time until, with just 15 minutes of the session to go, Epps put in a 1:06.003. By this time, some of the teams were switching to the medium compound tyres.
There were many track limits warnings but most noticeably, Stewart Lines in his Team Parker Racing with Maximum Motorsport Ford Focus received a black flag whilst running in 19th position, bringing his session to an abrupt end.
With five minutes to go, and the track getting slightly drier, the positions started to change as the teams started making the switch to slick tyres. Championship leader Ash Sutton initially went fastest with a time of 1:05.989.
However, as the chequered flag came out, Jason Plato crossed the line with his Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Levorg with a time of 1:05.739, leaving him fastest for the session and dropping his team mate to second.
Epps’ earlier time of 1:06.003 was still fast enough to leave him third. Sheddon remained in the pits for the last few minutes so dropped dramatically as most started putting in faster laps, leaving him 19th with a 1:06.535. Rob Collard managed a 1:06.138 putting him 7th, whilst Turkington was tenth with a 1:06.218.
Former WTCC Champion Rob Huff, who is returning to the BTCC for a one-off in the Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra, came home 25th with a respectable 1:06.693.
Second practice is scheduled for 12.05 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 99 | Jason PLATO |  |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 22 | 1:05.739 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 23 | 1:05.989 | 0.250 |
| 3 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 24 | 1:06.003 | 0.264 |
| 4 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 21 | 1:06.025 | 0.286 |
| 5 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 26 | 1:06.060 | 0.321 |
| 6 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1:06.098 | 0.359 |
| 7 | 5 | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 29 | 1:06.138 | 0.399 |
| 8 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 22 | 1:06.146 | 0.407 |
| 9 | 20 | James COLE | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 22 | 1:06.183 | 0.444 |
| 10 | 4 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 19 | 1:06.218 | 0.479 |
| 11 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 29 | 1:06.226 | 0.487 |
| 12 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 21 | 1:06.249 | 0.510 |
| 13 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 15 | 1:06.268 | 0.529 |
| 14 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 21 | 1:06.294 | 0.555 |
| 15 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 21 | 1:06.305 | 0.566 |
| 16 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 21 | 1:06.380 | 0.641 |
| 17 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 25 | 1:06.437 | 0.698 |
| 18 | 3 | Mat JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 23 | 1:06.451 | 0.712 |
| 19 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 1:06.535 | 0.796 |
| 20 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 28 | 1:06.559 | 0.820 |
| 21 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 23 | 1:06.619 | 0.880 |
| 22 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1:06.658 | 0.919 |
| 23 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 25 | 1:06.672 | 0.933 |
| 24 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TAG Racing | Volkswagen CC | 24 | 1:06.678 | 0.939 |
| 25 | 37 | Rob HUFF | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 22 | 1:06.693 | 0.954 |
| 26 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 27 | 1:06.820 | 1.081 |
| 27 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 21 | 1:06.928 | 1.189 |
| 28 | 61 | Will BURNS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 26 | 1:06.987 | 1.248 |
| 29 | 7 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 22 | 1:06.993 | 1.254 |
| 30 | 10 | Ant WHORTON-EALES | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 6 | 1:07.008 | 1.269 |