WSR’s Daryl De Leon topped the times in the British Touring Car Championship practice session around the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Power Maxed Racing’s Dexter Patterson.
De Leon, who scored his maiden BTCC win at the circuit 12 months ago, put in five fast laps at the end of the session to go progressively quicker in the final 15 minutes, with both of his final two laps being good enough to put him at the top.
Patterson was second in his new Audi, ahead of team-mate Mikey Doble in the second of three A3s.
NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish, who had been on top of the times for four minutes before De Leon’s string of quick laps, ended up in fourth, just over a tenth off the pace.
Championship leader Ash Sutton put his NAPA Ford in fifth, ahead of the leading Plato Racing Mercedes of Daniel Rowbottom in sixth, 0.158 seconds adrift.
Reigning champion Tom Ingram was the best of the EXCELR8 Motorsport-run Hyundais in seventh, ahead of WSR’s Charles Rainford, who topped the official pre-season test at the circuit, in eighth.
The top ten was completed by Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley and Plato Racing’s Adam Morgan.
EXCELR8’s Ricky Collard saw his session curtailed slightly earlier than planned due to an alternator issue with his car, leaving him in 14th, albeit as the second-quickest of the eam Vertu quartet.
In total 17 of the 21 cars in the field were covered by less than a second.
Qualifying is scheduled to get underway at 14:00 BST, followed by the Qualifying Race at 15:05 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 2 |  |
Daryl DE LEON | WSR | BMW 330i M Sport | 33 | 47.360 | – |
| 2 | 17 |  |
Dexter PATTERSON | Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing | Audi A3 Saloon | 24 | 47.402 | 0.042 |
| 3 | 88 | |
Mikey DOBLE | LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing | Audi A3 Saloon | 31 | 47.437 | 0.077 |
| 4 | 27 | |
Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus Titanium | 28 | 47.494 | 0.134 |
| 5 | 116 | |
Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus Titanium | 28 | 47.508 | 0.148 |
| 6 | 32 | |
Daniel ROWBOTTOM | Cataclean Plato Racing | Mercedes A35 Saloon | 28 | 47.518 | 0.158 |
| 7 | 80 | |
Tom INGRAM | Team VERTU | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 26 | 47.583 | 0.223 |
| 8 | 99 | |
Charles RAINFORD | WSR | BMW 330i M Sport | 31 | 47.657 | 0.297 |
| 9 | 22 | |
Chris SMILEY | Restart Racing | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 29 | 47.701 | 0.341 |
| 10 | 33 | |
Adam MORGAN | Cataclean Plato Racing | Mercedes A35 Saloon | 25 | 47.717 | 0.357 |
| 11 | 15 | |
Lewis SELBY | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus Titanium | 35 | 47.758 | 0.398 |
| 12 | 50 |  |
Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 30 | 47.842 | 0.482 |
| 13 | 16 | |
Aiden MOFFAT | LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing | Audi A3 Saloon | 25 | 48.021 | 0.661 |
| 14 | 11 | |
Ricky COLLARD | Team VERTU | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 24 | 48.058 | 0.698 |
| 15 | 3 | |
Tom CHILTON | Team VERTU | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 19 | 48.093 | 0.733 |
| 16 | 52 | |
Gordon SHEDDEN | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 28 | 48.101 | 0.741 |
| 17 | 77 | |
Sam OSBORNE | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus Titanium | 28 | 48.110 | 0.750 |
| 18 | 28 | |
Nicolas HAMILTON | Team VERTU | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 31 | 48.471 | 1.111 |
| 19 | 66 | |
Josh COOK | Speedworks Corolla Racing | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 21 | 48.622 | 1.262 |
| 20 | 19 | |
Max BUXTON | Speedworks Corolla Racing | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 31 | 48.814 | 1.454 |
| 21 | 132 | |
James DORLIN | Restart Racing | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 4 | No time | N/A |