Championship leader Ash Sutton edged out Tom Ingram by 0.090s to top the opening British Touring Car Championship practice session at Silverstone.
Despite carrying 60kg of championship ballast aboard his Infiniti Q50, the Laser Tools Racing driver set the benchmark time with a 57.501 tour of the 1.6-mile circuit in the second half of the 40-minute session, knocking Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s Tom Ingram off the top spot.
The double Thruxton race winner was over half a tenth clear of Tom Oliphant in his BMW 330i M Sport, while Senna Proctor – who had set the early pace in the session – managed fourth in his Excler8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 Fastback N.
Completing the top five was triple champion Matt Neal, who secured a double podium last weekend at Thruxton, with team-mate Dan Cammish a further 12 thousandths-of-a-second behind him, ultimately only 0.260s off Sutton’s pace-setting time.
Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan continued his run of form with seventh position in the venerable Mercedes-Benz A-Class, while erstwhile standings leader Colin Turkington managed eighth some three tenths off the pace.
Sutton’s team-mate Aiden Moffat placed in ninth in the second of the Infiniti Q50s while Rory Butcher rounded out the top ten runners ahead of the second Hyundai of Chris Smiley.
Thruxton race three winner Josh Cook could only manage 12th in his BTC Racing FK8 Honda Civic Type R, while the older BMW 1 Series of Team Parker Racing’s Stephen Jelley was 13th.
Jake Hill’s MB Motorsport FK2 Honda Civic was next in 14th, ahead of Tom Onslow-Cole’s Volkswagen CC in 15th.
In a typically tight session that saw the top 25 runners within a second of the fastest time, series debutant Jade Edwards was 1.147s adrift of Sutton’s benchmark with her time of 58.648s in the Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra.
The second British Touring Car Championship practice session at the Silverstone National layout is scheduled to get underway at 12:15 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON |  |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 25 | 57.501 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 23 | 57.591 | 0.090 |
| 3 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 25 | 57.658 | 0.157 |
| 4 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 18 | 57.700 | 0.199 |
| 5 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 24 | 57.749 | 0.248 |
| 6 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 24 | 57.761 | 0.260 |
| 7 | 32 | Adam MORGAN | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 25 | 57.773 | 0.272 |
| 8 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 27 | 57.809 | 0.308 |
| 9 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 25 | 57.836 | 0.335 |
| 10 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 22 | 57.898 | 0.397 |
| 11 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 25 | 57.914 | 0.413 |
| 12 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 24 | 57.971 | 0.470 |
| 13 | 12 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 22 | 58.012 | 0.511 |
| 14 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 26 | 58.013 | 0.512 |
| 15 | 8 | Tom ONSLOW-COLE | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 28 | 58.111 | 0.610 |
| 16 | 777 | Michael CREES | |
The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 29 | 58.151 | 0.650 |
| 17 | 4 | Sam OSBORNE | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 25 | 58.210 | 0.709 |
| 18 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 22 | 58.221 | 0.720 |
| 19 | 41 | Carl BOARDLEY | |
Team HARD. | BMW 125i M Sport | 26 | 58.225 | 0.724 |
| 20 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 25 | 58.253 | 0.752 |
| 21 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 24 | 58.304 | 0.803 |
| 22 | 180 | James GORNALL | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 27 | 58.308 | 0.807 |
| 23 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 24 | 58.331 | 0.830 |
| 24 | 44 | Andy NEATE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 22 | 58.463 | 0.962 |
| 25 | 32 | Jack BUTEL | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 26 | 58.482 | 0.981 |
| 26 | 9 | Jade EDWARDS | |
Power Maxed Car Care Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 28 | 58.648 | 1.147 |
| 27 | 28 | Nicolas HAMILTON | |
ROKiT Racing with Team HARD. | Volkswagen CC | 28 | 58.949 | 1.448 |