Tom Ingram sets benchmark pace in opening Croft practice

Tom Ingram set the pace in the opening British Touring Car Championship practice session of the weekend at Croft, already more than half a second faster than the qualifying lap record.

The existing qualifying lap record, set by Ingram’s Team Vertu team-mate Tom Chilton, is a 1:21.058 posted last year, but Ingram was already significantly below that on Saturday morning, lapping in 1:20.514 ten minutes before the end of the session.

Senna Proctor was second behind his team-mate, 0.161 seconds adrift, with NAPA Racing UK’s championship leader Ash Sutton in third.

Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble was the top Independent driver in fourth, whilst Restart Racing’s Daniel Lloyd in fifth and NAPA’s Dan Cammish in sixth were also within half a second of the pace.

Chris Smiley made it two Restart Racing Hyundais in the top ten in seventh, with Team Vertu’s Chilton in eighth and the top ten completed by Toyota duo James Dorlin and Árón Taylor-Smith.

Series newcomer Max Buxton was 22^nd in his first practice session, the Toyota driver 3.5 seconds off the pace, just behind Stephen Jelley, who has changed team and car for this weekend’s event, switching to an Un-Limited Motorsport CUPRA following the withdrawal of One Motorsport.

Second practice is scheduled to get underway at 12:00, followed by qualifying at 15:30.

Session results

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	80		Tom INGRAM	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	17	1:20.514	–
2	18		Senna PROCTOR	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	14	1:20.675	0.161
3	116		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	16	1:20.759	0.245
4	88		Mikey DOBLE	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	15	1:20.996	0.482
5	123		Daniel LLOYD	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	18	1:21.005	0.491
6	27		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	17	1:21.011	0.497
7	22		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	15	1:21.133	0.619
8	3		Tom CHILTON	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	14	1:21.251	0.737
9	132		James DORLIN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	17	1:21.314	0.800
10	40		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	19	1:21.326	0.812
11	32		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	12	1:21.489	0.975
12	52		Gordon SHEDDEN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	13	1:21.513	0.999
13	1		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330i M Sport	13	1:21.954	1.440
14	17		Dexter PATTERSON	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	17	1:21.994	1.480
15	99		Charles RAINFORD	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	18	1:22.050	1.536
16	16		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	18	1:22.126	1.612
17	77		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	15	1:22.270	1.756
18	2		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	19	1:22.517	2.003
19	33		Adam MORGAN	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	19	1:22.649	2.135
20	28		Nicolas HAMILTON	Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock	CUPRA Leon	18	1:22.881	2.367
21	12		Stephen JELLEY	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	16	1:22.984	2.470
22	19		Max BUXTON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	17	1:24.020	3.506
23	5		Nick HALSTEAD	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	15	1:25.650	5.136