Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan has narrowly beaten Jason Plato in the KX Momentum MG6 in the weekend’s opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship free practice session.
Coming off the back of a race three win two weeks ago at Oulton Park, Jordan set a time of 1:25:378 on his sixth lap of the circuit – a mere 0.072 seconds ahead.
Colin Turkington proceeded the two leaders, following on from the pace shown by the eBay Motors BMW at Oulton Park with Tom Onslow-Cole close also quick in the PPCGB.com/Kraftwerk Racing Passat.
Rob Collard made his way into the top ten in fifth – showing massive improvement in his number 5 eBay BMW.
Gordon Shedden beat Honda Racing team-mate Matt Neal for sixth, whilst Dave Newsham and Sam Tordoff rounding out the top ten – despite Tordoff losing his driveshaft out on track during the session, resulting in a short red flag period to remove debris from the track.
BTCC-debutant Jake Hill, sitting in for Liam Griffin at this weekend’s meeting at Croft, impressed his Motorbase squad to end the session in twenty-second, which was good enough to beat his fellow Jack Sears’ Trophy competitors.
James Cole, who finished in behind Lea Wood in twenty fourth has had an engine change in his RCIB Insurance Racing Insignia, meaning and competitive running in FP2 is looking unlikely.
More technical issues for Andy Neate has resulted in him having to sit out this weekend – an even longer wait for the IP Tech Race’s debut in the series.
Free Practise One Classification:
1. Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing)
2. Jason Plato (KX Momentum Racing)
3. Colin Turkington (eBay Motors)
4. Tom Onlsow-Cole (PPCGB.com/Kraftwerk Racing)
5. Rob Collard (eBay Motors)
6. Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing)
7. Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing)
8. Frank Wrathall (Dynojet)
9. Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport)
10. Sam Tordoff (KX Momentum Racing)
11. Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing)
12. Nick Foster (eBay Motors)
13. Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing)
14. Rob Austin (Rob Austin Racing)
15. Adam Morgan (Cicely Racing)
16. Dan Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp & Sopp)
17. Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing)
18. Will Bratt (Rob Austin Racing)
19. Michael Caine (Addison Lee Motorbase)
20. Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport)
21. Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing)
22. Jake Hill (Addison Lee Motorbase)
23. Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing)
24. James Cole (RCIB Insurance)
25. Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart)
26. David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp & Sopp)
27. James Kaye (Amd Tuning.com)
28. Joe Girling (M247/Tech-Speed Motorsport) by Nikki Thompson
