British Touring Car Championship leader Tom Ingram set the pace during the opening free practice session at Rockingham Motor Speedway.
Ingram – who clocked a fastest time of 1:23.284s around the 1.94 mile International Sports Car Circuit layout behind the wheel of his Toyota Avensis on his first run – edged out a late charging Rob Austin by 0.048 seconds.
That time could be considered fairly representative, just a tenth of a second adrift from James Cole’s pole position time twelve months ago.
The competitive nature of the UK’s headline tin-top series was highlighted with the 31-car field split by a little over 2 seconds and with eight different models of car occupying the top eight positions on the time sheets.
The triple-header at Rockingham could prove crucial if Sam Tordoff is to remain a title contender, and he led Motorbase’s charge a mere 0.011s behind the duo.
Andrew Jordan and Adam Morgan rounded out the top five for BMW Pirtek Racing and Ciceley Motorsport respectively, with Mike Bushell a solid sixth for Team HARD.
Sam Smelt put in a season-best showing of seventh in the AmD-run Audi S3 ahead of Josh Cook in the leading Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra.
Tom Oliphant and Daniel Lloyd round out the top ten.
Snetterton race-winners Jack Goff, Ash Sutton and Matt Neal all struggled to 13th, 22nd and 26th, and their team mates fared no better.
Jason Plato could only muster 19th in the Subaru Levorg GT, with Dan Cammish a little further ahead in 16th.
Championship newcomers Ricky Collard (Team BMW), Glynn Geddie (AmD) and Ollie Pidgeley (Team HARD) rounded out the field after their first competitive action.
The weekend continues with second practice at 12:00 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 80 | Tom INGRAM |  |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 18 | 1:23.284 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 18 | 1:23.332 | 0.048 |
| 3 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team GardX Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 16 | 1:23.343 | 0.059 |
| 4 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:23.415 | 0.131 |
| 5 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
MAC Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 19 | 1:23.454 | 0.170 |
| 6 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 1:23.478 | 0.194 |
| 7 | 23 | Sam SMELT | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 17 | 1:23.500 | 0.216 |
| 8 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 12 | 1:23.505 | 0.221 |
| 9 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 12 | 1:23.520 | 0.236 |
| 10 | 26 | Daniel LLOYD | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1:23.588 | 0.304 |
| 11 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 1:23.648 | 0.364 |
| 12 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1:23.787 | 0.503 |
| 13 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:23.800 | 0.516 |
| 14 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 21 | 1:23.896 | 0.612 |
| 15 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 18 | 1:23.896 | 0.612 |
| 16 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:23.953 | 0.669 |
| 17 | 60 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 17 | 1:24.024 | 0.740 |
| 18 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 16 | 1:24.055 | 0.771 |
| 19 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 18 | 1:24.085 | 0.801 |
| 20 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 17 | 1:24.086 | 0.802 |
| 21 | 2 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:24.116 | 0.832 |
| 22 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 11 | 1:24.119 | 0.835 |
| 23 | 20 | James COLE | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 14 | 1:24.135 | 0.851 |
| 24 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 8 | 1:24.159 | 0.875 |
| 25 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 1:24.194 | 0.910 |
| 26 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:24.259 | 0.975 |
| 27 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 1:24.295 | 1.011 |
| 28 | 44 | Michael CAINE | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 1:24.488 | 1.204 |
| 29 | 55 | Ricky COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 17 | 1:24.845 | 1.561 |
| 30 | 41 | Glynn GEDDIE | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 21 | 1:25.284 | 2.000 |
| 31 | 43 | Ollie PIDGLEY | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 20 | 1:25.301 | 2.017 |