BTC Racing’s Chris Smiley topped the times with a late lap as track conditions improved in second practice of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch.
Smiley was the best of several runners who benefitted on slicks as a clear dry line formed around the 1.96-mile Leicestershire circuit in the latter stages of the 40 minute session.
A red flag was again needed to re-place tyre barriers at the final chicane, which had been causing trouble in the opening session due to high winds.
Following that, a number of drivers improved, with Adam Morgan showing promising dry pace before Smiley pipped him by three tenths in the dying moments of the session.
AmD Tuning’s Rory Butcher was third, while Jack Goff again relished mixed conditions to place his Volkswagen CC in fourth position ahead of Team HARD stablemate Bobby Thompson, who completed the top five.
Power Maxed Racing’s Rob Collard placed sixth in his Vauxhall Astra, with championship leader Josh Cook ending up seventh, albeit 2.2 seconds adrift of Smiley’s benchmark.
Next was Ginetta Supercup Am champion Michael Crees, with Ash Sutton in ninth with Crees’ team-mate Carl Boardley making it four Team HARD VW’s in the top ten in the session.
Aiden Moffat, who had been the erstwhile pacesetter in the session while it remained wet, dropped to 11th once others switched to slicks.
Matt Simpson finished 12th in his FK2 Honda Civic Type R, heading a trio of Hondas with the Halfords Yuasa Racing duo of Dan Cammish and Matt Neal in 13th and 14th respectively ahead of Brands Hatch podium finisher Stephen Jelly.
Notable absentees from the top 15 included Jason Plato in 17th, Tom Ingram in 22nd, while free practice one pacesetter Andrew Jordan only managed 23rd, with reigning champion Colin Turkington in 25th.
Qualifying for the tomorrow’s trio of contests at Donington Park is set to get underway at 15:15, with an unpredictable session expected due to the mixed weather conditions.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 22 | Chris SMILEY |  |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 20 | 1:12.622 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 20 | 1:12.923 | 0.301 |
| 3 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 1:13.100 | 0.478 |
| 4 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 1:13.334 | 0.712 |
| 5 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 17 | 1:13.441 | 0.819 |
| 6 | 9 | Rob COLLARD | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 17 | 1:13.782 | 1.160 |
| 7 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:14.848 | 2.226 |
| 8 | 777 | Michael CREES | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 18 | 1:15.143 | 2.521 |
| 9 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 16 | 1:15.429 | 2.807 |
| 10 | 41 | Carl BOARDLEY | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 17 | 1:16.038 | 3.416 |
| 11 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 1:16.174 | 3.552 |
| 12 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 1:16.195 | 3.573 |
| 13 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:16.988 | 4.366 |
| 14 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1:17.068 | 4.446 |
| 15 | 12 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 19 | 1:17.210 | 4.588 |
| 16 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 17 | 1:17.690 | 5.068 |
| 17 | 11 | Jason PLATO | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 14 | 1:18.012 | 5.390 |
| 18 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 17 | 1:18.606 | 5.984 |
| 19 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 1:18.655 | 6.033 |
| 20 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | |
Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 1:18.709 | 6.087 |
| 21 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 15 | 1:18.854 | 6.232 |
| 22 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Team Toyota GB with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 11 | 1:19.037 | 6.415 |
| 23 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 330i M Sport | 15 | 1:19.126 | 6.504 |
| 24 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 13 | 1:19.185 | 6.563 |
| 25 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 15 | 1:19.204 | 6.582 |
| 26 | 28 | Nicolas HAMILTON | |
ROKiT Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 16 | 1:19.443 | 6.821 |
| 27 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 15 | 1:19.667 | 7.045 |
| 28 | 37 | Rob SMITH | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 17 | 1:19.981 | 7.359 |
| 29 | 8 | Mark BLUNDELL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 16 | 1:19.984 | 7.362 |
| 30 | 4 | Sam OSBORNE | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 15 | 1:20.169 | 7.547 |