Team BMW’s Colin Turkington set the early pace and headed the time sheets in the opening British Touring Car Championship practice session at Thruxton.
His quickest time of 1:16.268 seconds on his first run around the 2.4 mile circuit proved enough to eclipse Power Maxed Racing’s Josh Cook, despite carrying 56 kilos of success ballast courtesy of his strong showing at Donington Park last time out.
Team-mate and Brands Hatch winner Senna Proctor came next, highlighting the strong early showing from the Vauxhall Astra.
Tom Chilton led Motorbase Performance’s charge in fourth, five thousandths of a second clear of Halfords Yuasa Racing driver Dan Cammish, with the new-for-2018 Civic Type R FK8 expected to put in a strong showing on a circuit that places a high reliance on aerodynamics and cornering speeds.
Jack Goff was sixth ahead of reigning champion Ash Sutton – quickest at the championship’s official test here last month -though team-mate Jason Plato could only manage 19th.
Andrew Jordan’s BMW 1 Series, Mike Bushell’s Volkswagen CC and local hero Rob Collard rounded out the top ten.
Eurotech were another team to start in positive fashion with Brett Smith in P11, whilst Jake Hill kicked off another potentially trophy-laden weekend in 12th.
Adam Morgan’s Mercedes A-Class, the second Team Dynamics machine of Matt Neal and Sam Tordoff round out the top 15.
The second free practice session is due to get underway at 12:30.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 2 | Colin TURKINGTON |  |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 18 | 1:16.268 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 1:16.387 | 0.119 |
| 3 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 1:16.671 | 0.403 |
| 4 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 17 | 1:16.714 | 0.446 |
| 5 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 1:16.719 | 0.451 |
| 6 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1:16.830 | 0.562 |
| 7 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 19 | 1:16.871 | 0.603 |
| 8 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 1:16.878 | 0.610 |
| 9 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 1:16.897 | 0.629 |
| 10 | 5 | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 1:16.915 | 0.647 |
| 11 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 21 | 1:16.938 | 0.670 |
| 12 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 21 | 1:16.948 | 0.680 |
| 13 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
MAC Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 17 | 1:17.072 | 0.804 |
| 14 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:17.132 | 0.864 |
| 15 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team GardX Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 1:17.145 | 0.877 |
| 16 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 21 | 1:17.326 | 1.058 |
| 17 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1:17.350 | 1.082 |
| 18 | 20 | James COLE | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 18 | 1:17.361 | 1.093 |
| 19 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 14 | 1:17.381 | 1.113 |
| 20 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 23 | 1:17.552 | 1.284 |
| 21 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 19 | 1:17.565 | 1.297 |
| 22 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1:17.807 | 1.539 |
| 23 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 21 | 1:17.833 | 1.565 |
| 24 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 19 | 1:17.960 | 1.692 |
| 25 | 28 | Josh PRICE | |
Autoglym Academy Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 19 | 1:17.965 | 1.697 |
| 26 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 11 | 1:18.033 | 1.765 |
| 27 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 20 | 1:18.115 | 1.847 |
| 28 | 23 | Sam SMELT | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 20 | 1:18.142 | 1.874 |
| 29 | 44 | Michael CAINE | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 13 | 1:18.166 | 1.898 |
| 30 | 12 | Tom BOARDMAN | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 17 | 1:18.622 | 2.354 |
| 31 | 60 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 9 | 1:18.655 | 2.387 |
| 32 | 14 | James NASH | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1:18.740 | 2.472 |