Silverstone specialist Tom Ingram topped the times in the opening Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship Free Practice session at the Northamptonshire circuit, as the title contender sent out an early warning to his rivals.

The Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com man clocked a 57.675s lap time – which was the pick of the bunch – as the top 20 cars were separated by less than half a second around the National Circuit.

"We’ve been here before so it’s a good start," said Ingram. "The car was feeling really good. As everyone was, we were all running around on old tyres, so it was nice to still be on the pace on old rubber. But we’ll wait and see how the day plays out. Obviously, these conditions are going to be quite difficult; for me this is the depths of winter. We don’t do cold weather, so this is the depths of winter. I’ve seen some people out at Woodcote in the grandstands and there seems to be a little bit of sunshine there so we’ll hold onto that!

"I’ve felt really chilled, even over the few weeks that we had off. You realise as you get older that you control the controllables. As long as you put the work in over the week and know you’ve done as much as you can, I know that the great team around me will put in as much work as I have, so you learn to control the controllables and you just have a little bit more calmness. Of course, there’s pressure for this weekend as everyone’s feeling it, but at the same time, I’m feeling pretty good."

Toyota GAZOO Racing UK enjoyed another good run at Silverstone with Ricky Collard and Rory Butcher ending up second and fourth respectively in FP1, the latter having won here twice last season.

BTC Racing Rich Energy driver Jason Plato was wedged between the Toyotas in third, as the BTCC legend looks to end his season on a high.

Championship leader Colin Turkington was fifth as he was followed home by the Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport BMW of Adam Morgan, who had set the pace overall earlier in the session.

Three time champ Gordon Shedden was seventh for Halfords Racing with Cataclean, whilst the top ten was completed by Daniel Lloyd (Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com), Aron Taylor-Smith (Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing) and Jake Hill (ROKiT MB Motorsport).

The session was red flagged in the closing seconds with Collard's car stranded out on track in an incident the potentially also involved the cars of Dexter Patterson (Laser Tools Racing) and Will Powell (Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero).

Free Practice 2 will take place at 1205 and Qualifying for Round 25 of the 2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship commences at 1505 and will be streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc.

2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 1 – Silverstone

1.         Tom INGRAM (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com 57.675s
2.         Ricky COLLARD (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +0.104s
3.         Jason PLATO (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +0.124s
4.         Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +0.126s
5.         Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.182s
6.         Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +0.196s
7.         Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.215s
8.         Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +0.284s
9.         Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +0.289s
10.       Jake HILL (GBR) ROKiT MB Motorsport +0.291s
11.       Dan CAMMISH (GBR) NAPA Racing UK +0.311s
12.       Ash HAND (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing +0.338s
13.       Tom CHILTON (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +0.357s
14.       Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +0.364s
15.       George GAMBLE (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +0.367s
16.       Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.407s
17.       Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.410s
18.       Ash SUTTON (GBR) NAPA Racing UK +0.438s
19.       Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +0.445s
20.       Josh COOK (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +0.485s
21.       Michael CREES (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing +0.569s
22.       Nic HAMILTON (GBR) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +0.759s
23.       Dexter PATTERSON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.828s
24.       Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +0.867s
25.       Jack BUTEL (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +1.009s
26.       Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +1.182s
27.       Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +1.185s
28.       Rick PARFITT (GBR) Uptonsteel with Euro Car Parts Racing +1.850s
29.       Will POWELL (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero NO TIME