Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance's Sam Tordoff set the pace in Tuesday's afternoon test session at Snetterton, but it was Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher's Tom Chilton that claimed the overall bragging rights on day one at the Norfolk circuit.
Chilton completed a super quick qualifying simulation mid-morning, setting a 1:56.144s benchmark in his Ford Focus. Halford Yuasa Racing's Dan Cammish came within 0.118s of Chilton's effort but the Honda man had to settle for second.
Those two lap times would not be challenged for the remainder of the day but it was Tordoff claiming the afternoon headlines in his AmD-run Honda Civic Type R. The Yorkshireman admitted that his fastest lap came on the Dunlop Sport Maxx soft tyre as a packed quota of 30 drivers ran through their respective programmes.
All three Dunlop compounds were utilised during the day with a total of 1510 laps being completed during the seven hours of running. Chilton was not only the quickest man on track but also the busiest, as the Surrey man clocked an impressive 83 tours of the Snetterton 300 layout during the day.
Reigning champion Colin Turkington was third fastest for Team BMW ahead of Team Toyota GB with Ginsters' Tom Ingram.
AmD's Rory Butcher was only able to complete six laps during the afternoon session following myriad of minor glitches for his Honda, but the Scotsman's early morning lap time was still good enough for sixth overall. The frustration for the BTCC race winner was slightly compounded by the fact that he will not be running during tomorrow's action.
Simpson Racing's Matt Simpson was seventh ahead of Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing's Jason Plato. Five-time 2019 race winner Andrew Jordan was ninth in the BMW 3 Series, whilst Adam Morgan made a welcome return to the top ten for Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport.
Other notable runners included Dan Kirby's BTCC debut in the Trade Price Cars Audi S3 and Rob Austin's return behind the wheel of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta - the latter eventually ending up a credible 15th on his first day of action this season.
Arguably the most highly anticipated moment belonged to Aiden Moffat and Laser Tools Racing as the Scottish squad's newly built Infiniti Q50 hit the track for the first time. The team continued to work on preparing the car during the morning, before completing some shakedown work during the afternoon session.
The BTCC cars will be back on track tomorrow with the action taking place between 0900-1230 and 1330-1700. Follow the BTCC's social media channels and official website for updates throughout the day.
Click here for the final classification from Day 1 of the BTCC tyre test at Snetterton.
