Tom Ingram set the pace in the opening British Touring Car Championship practice session at Snetterton, with the Excelr8 Hyundai driver lapping the Norfolk circuit three tenths faster than Ash Sutton.
Ingram posted the best lap around 15 minutes from the end of the session, his time of 1 minute 55.785 seconds being around a second quicker than last year’s pole time but a second slower than the lap record he set in 2019.
“We’re quickest and we’re taking it!” said Ingram. “Honestly, the car felt really good. We’re not going to read too much into it, it’s only free practice at the end of the day and we know we’re a second off where the pole time done previously is. There’s still a bit more to find and the circuit feels great.
“The nicest thing is to see everyone on the banks. It’s so nice to see. We’ve missed everyone on the banks and it’s so nice to actually go around and see people waving on the in lap. It’s really cool.”
Reigning champion Sutton put his Infiniti in second, ahead of Team BMW’s Colin Turkington in third, the Northern Irishman just 0.032 seconds behind his rival.
Team Dynamics’ Gordon Shedden was fourth fastest in the best of the Hondas, ahead of the second Team BMW car of Stephen Jelley in fifth.
Dan Lloyd had been fastest early in the session but ended up in sixth, 0.768 seconds off the pace, ahead of the leading Ford of MB Motorsport’s Ollie Jackson in seventh.
Rory Butcher was the best of the Speedworks Toyota drivers in eighth, with the top ten being completed by the second MB Ford of Jake Hill, who only managed five laps due to a stuck wheel nut, and Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan.
Josh Cook, a double winner last time out at Thruxton, was 11th quickest in the best of the BTC Racing Hondas. His new team-mate for the remainder of the season, Senna Proctor, was 17th.
On her return to the series, Jessica Hawkins was 20th in the second Motorbase Ford handed to her by Andy Neate for the weekend, 1.640 seconds off the pace.
Team Dynamics’ Daniel Rowbottom failed to post a time due to a differential issue on his Honda Civic which has now been resolved.
Second practice gets underway at 12:05 BST ahead of qualifying at 14:35 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 80 |  |
Tom INGRAM | Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 13 | 1:55.785 | – |
| 2 | 1 | |
Ash SUTTON | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 10 | 1:56.121 | 0.336 |
| 3 | 2 | |
Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 14 | 1:56.153 | 0.368 |
| 4 | 52 | |
Gordon SHEDDEN | Halfords Racing with Cataclean | Honda Civic Type-R | 10 | 1:56.310 | 0.525 |
| 5 | 12 | |
Stephen JELLEY | Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 11 | 1:56.492 | 0.707 |
| 6 | 123 | |
Daniel LLOYD | Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 13 | 1:56.553 | 0.768 |
| 7 | 48 | |
Ollie JACKSON | MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Ford Focus ST | 13 | 1:56.605 | 0.820 |
| 8 | 6 | |
Rory BUTCHER | Toyota Gazoo Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 13 | 1:56.687 | 0.902 |
| 9 | 24 | |
Jake HILL | MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Ford Focus ST | 5 | 1:56.804 | 1.019 |
| 10 | 33 | |
Adam MORGAN | Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport | BMW 330i M Sport | 12 | 1:56.827 | 1.042 |
| 11 | 66 | |
Josh COOK | BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 13 | 1:56.852 | 1.067 |
| 12 | 11 | |
Jason PLATO | Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 13 | 1:56.892 | 1.107 |
| 13 | 4 | |
Sam OSBORNE | Racing with Wera & Photon Group | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 1:57.042 | 1.257 |
| 14 | 16 | |
Aiden MOFFAT | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 14 | 1:57.092 | 1.307 |
| 15 | 31 | |
Jack GOFF | Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct | CUPRA Leon | 13 | 1:57.111 | 1.326 |
| 16 | 22 | |
Chris SMILEY | Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 12 | 1:57.149 | 1.364 |
| 17 | 18 | |
Senna PROCTOR | BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 11 | 1:57.254 | 1.469 |
| 18 | 15 | |
Tom OLIPHANT | Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 13 | 1:57.408 | 1.623 |
| 19 | 3 | |
Tom CHILTON | Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport | BMW 330i M Sport | 13 | 1:57.414 | 1.629 |
| 20 | 21 | |
Jessica HAWKINS | Racing with Wera & Photon Group | Ford Focus ST | 14 | 1:57.425 | 1.640 |
| 21 | 40 |  |
Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions | CUPRA Leon | 9 | 1:58.006 | 2.221 |
| 22 | 88 | |
Glynn GEDDIE | Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct | CUPRA Leon | 11 | 1:58.170 | 2.385 |
| 23 | 62 | |
Rick PARFITT Jr | EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 13 | 1:58.240 | 2.455 |
| 24 | 41 | |
Carl BOARDLEY | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 11 | 1:58.359 | 2.574 |
| 25 | 23 | |
Sam SMELT | Toyota Gazoo Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 13 | 1:58.468 | 2.683 |
| 26 | 99 | |
Jade EDWARDS | BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 13 | 1:58.482 | 2.697 |
| 27 | 28 | |
Nicolas HAMILTON | ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading | CUPRA Leon | 9 | 1:58.635 | 2.850 |
| 28 | 96 | |
Jack BUTEL | EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 12 | 1:59.124 | 3.339 |
| 29 | 32 | |
Daniel ROWBOTTOM | Halfords Racing with Cataclean | Honda Civic Type-R | 6 | No time | N/A |