The time screens for the BTCC second practice session at Silverstone took a more familiar look than the wet first session as this time it took place on an entirely dry track.
Ashley Sutton ended up as the pace setter but only on his last run, the top spot had been previously held by Adam Morgan, although he was beaten down to third when Tom Ingram also improved on his final run.
Sutton was happy with his session although thinks he can go faster;
“It matters in qualifying later today of course but it’s a good sign,” he said . “I would say we’re in the right operating window but we still haven’t quite found the sweet spot yet. The car feels good so we’ll be happy to be somewhere in the top five on the grid.”
Behind the top three came Aron Smith’s BKR VW CC. Smith is still on a high from his Rockingham win and his confidence is showing on track.
Rob Austin was fifth for Handy Motorsport, the popular driver is now putting his Toyota where he thought it would be at the start of the season and looks like having another good weekend here. It was also a good session for his former team mate, Hunter Abbott who took sixth in his Power Maxed Chevrolet. He has been strong on the Saturday for the last few races only to find himself knocked off in the races so he’ll be hoping this might finally be his weekend to shine.
Andrew Jordan was the best Focus in Seventh with Mat Jackson this time only twenty fifth and strangely off the pace of his Motorbase team mate.
Josh Cook showed this is a good circuit for MG as he took the eighth best time. Jake Hill’s good day continues with ninth for RCIB Insurance racing.
Martin Depper took a strong tenth for Eurotech in his Honda Civic, beating even the works Civics. He will be hoping he can repeat the feat in qualifying.
Colin Turkington was the best of the Subaru’s in eleventh just ahead of championship leader Sam Tordoff in his Team JCT600 with GardX BMW.
Ollie Jackson showed his strong pace in the first session wasn’t all down to the weather taking a place in the front half of the field with thirteenth. Fourteenth was the second Eurotech Honda of Jeff Smith, he also beats the works team in this session.
Fifteenth was Jack Goff in the WSR run IHG BMW. The two works Hondas were sixteenth and nineteenth for Neal and Shedden respectively. Silverstone is always a circuit they’ve said they don’t go well at.
The only session of the day which actually makes a difference for the grid tomorrow, qualifying takes place at 15:45 and can be watched live online via www.itv.com/btcc.
Free Practice 2 – Silverstone
1 Ash SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance 58.589s (100.79 mph)
2 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.071s
3 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +0.136s
4 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +0.296s
5 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +0.319s
6 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.366s
7 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.379s
8 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.424s
9 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +0.460s
10 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.462s
11 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.466s
12 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.529s
13 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +0.558s
14 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.588s
15 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +0.591s
16 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.686s
17 Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.708s
18 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.712s
19 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.737s
20 Tony GILHAM (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.808s
21 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.922s
22 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.933s
23 Dan WELCH (GBR) Goodestone Racing +1.027s
24 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1.040s
25 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +1.048s
26 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +1.056s
27 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +1.177s
28 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +1.531s
29 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +1.641s
30 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +1.806s
By Marc Waller
