BMW Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan set a late lap to edge out Ash Sutton by half a tenth in the opening British Touring Car Championship session at Donington Park.
2018 Jack Sears Trophy winner Dan Cammish set the early pace at the damp and windy Leicestershire circuit, before Sutton went top by nearly two tenths just before the midway mark.
The rain then slightly worsened, but Jordan improved his time to go fastest with just over two minutes remaining, his 1:18.892 lap putting him half a tenth clear of the 2017 champion.
Tom Ingram was fourth in his Team Toyota GB Corolla, just over two tenths off Jordan’s benchmark, with reigning champion Colin Turkington completing the top five in the second of the WSR-run 330i M Sport cars.
Double champion Jason Plato was sixth fastest in his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra, with Chris Smiley heading a Honda trio in seventh.
AmD Tuning’s Rory Butcher and Sam Tordoff were eighth and ninth respectively, with Jack Goff’s Team HARD Volkswagen CC rounding out the top ten.
Championship leader Josh Cook was 11th with Aiden Moffat’s Mercedes A-Class half a tenth behind him, while Ollie Jackson placed 13th in his Motorbase Ford Focus RS.
Matt Simpson’s Honda Civic Type R was next, 1.007s off the pace, with Tom Oliphant’s BMW in 15th.
Motorbase’s Nic Hamilton, who placed 21st, had a high-speed spin at the Craner Curves, losing the rear and sliding across the grass before gathering it up at the Old Hairpin and keeping the speed up through the gravel.
The second practice session is scheduled to get underway at 12:25 BST, with weather conditions expected to remain damp and drizzly for the remainder of the day.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN |  |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 330i M Sport | 15 | 1:18.892 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 20 | 1:18.942 | 0.050 |
| 3 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 21 | 1:19.074 | 0.182 |
| 4 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Team Toyota GB with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 17 | 1:19.101 | 0.209 |
| 5 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 17 | 1:19.250 | 0.358 |
| 6 | 11 | Jason PLATO | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 16 | 1:19.417 | 0.525 |
| 7 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 20 | 1:19.556 | 0.664 |
| 8 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1:19.632 | 0.740 |
| 9 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 1:19.658 | 0.766 |
| 10 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 1:19.757 | 0.865 |
| 11 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1:19.765 | 0.873 |
| 12 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 19 | 1:19.815 | 0.923 |
| 13 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 19 | 1:19.889 | 0.997 |
| 14 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 22 | 1:19.899 | 1.007 |
| 15 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 18 | 1:19.949 | 1.057 |
| 16 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 1:20.014 | 1.122 |
| 17 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 1:20.082 | 1.190 |
| 18 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 1:20.084 | 1.192 |
| 19 | 9 | Rob COLLARD | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 20 | 1:20.103 | 1.211 |
| 20 | 12 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 19 | 1:20.137 | 1.245 |
| 21 | 28 | Nicolas HAMILTON | |
ROKiT Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 14 | 1:20.149 | 1.257 |
| 22 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 16 | 1:20.308 | 1.416 |
| 23 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 17 | 1:20.328 | 1.436 |
| 24 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 18 | 1:20.690 | 1.798 |
| 25 | 41 | Carl BOARDLEY | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 18 | 1:20.945 | 2.053 |
| 26 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | |
Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 17 | 1:21.247 | 2.355 |
| 27 | 777 | Michael CREES | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 23 | 1:21.276 | 2.384 |
| 28 | 37 | Rob SMITH | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 20 | 1:21.949 | 3.057 |
| 29 | 4 | Sam OSBORNE | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 20 | 1:22.316 | 3.424 |
| 30 | 8 | Mark BLUNDELL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 19 | 1:22.602 | 3.710 |