Josh Cook is in the form of his BTCC career and the Rich Energy BTC Racing star has continued his recent run by topping the times in FP1 at Oulton Park.
The #66 Honda was almost a quarter of a second clear of the chasing pack, whilst less than a tenth separated each of the next 16 drivers in the final classification.
"It’s a good start to the day and at the moment all things are right in our garage!," said championship leader Cook. "We don’t know what everybody else is doing, we don’t know if any of the other cars have pieced laps together. All we can concentrate on is what we’re doing with the hybrid allocation we’ve got – which is nothing in qualifying.
"We’ve got to make the best of the powertrain, the best of the chassis, the best of me and wherever we end up we end up.
"We’ve done all of the calculations, all the predictions, and when the lights go out it’ll all go out the window!"
Tom Ingram was second for Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com as he looks to bounce back from a difficult time at Thruxton, whilst the reverse grid winner in Hampshire – Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan – was third in today's opening session.
"It's only FP1 and I expect the pace to be a lot quicker and closer during qualifying, but we are in the ballpark," said Ingram. "I'll have 4.5 seconds of hybrid power, which I haven't had for the last two events due to leading the championship, and that could be enough – we will see."
Multiple title winners – Gordon Shedden and Ash Sutton – were next in the order, whilst Toyota GAZOO Racing UK enjoyed an upturn in fortunes with Ricky Collard and Rory Butcher occupying sixth and ninth respectively.
Dan Cammish (NAPA Racing UK), Dan Lloyd (Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com) and Bobby Thompson (Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero) also posted top ten times in the 40-minute session.
FP2 takes place at 1225 with qualifying for Round 10 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship scheduled for 1530 – the latter being streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc.
2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 1 – Oulton Park
1. Josh COOK (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +1.25.882s
2. Tom INGRAM (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +0.243s
3. Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport + 0.303s
4. Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.356s
5. Ash SUTTON (GBR) NAPA Racing UK +0.414s
6. Ricky COLLARD (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +0.464s
7. Dan CAMMISH (GBR) NAPA Racing UK + 0.499s
8. Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +0.528s
9. Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +0.600s
10. Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +0.620s
11. Ash HAND (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing +0.645s
12. Jake HILL (GBR) ROKiT MB Motorsport +0.669s
13. George GAMBLE (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +0.705s
14. Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.742s
15. Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.758s
16. Jason PLATO (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +0.783s
17. Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +0.827s
18. Tom CHILTON (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +0.872s
19. Michael CREES (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing + 1.000s
20. Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1.089s
21. Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +1.125s
22. Dexter PATTERSON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1.167s
23. Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +1.440s
24. Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +1.454s
25. Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +1.619s
26. Nic HAMILTON (GBR) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +1.698s
27. Will POWELL (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +2.458s
28. Rick PARFITT (GBR) Uptonsteel with Euro Car Parts Racing +2.462s
29. Jack BUTEL (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +3.256s
