TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK's Ricky Collard topped the opening Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship free practice session at Knockhill, amidst extremely wet conditions around the tight and twisty Scottish circuit.
The session included three brief red flag stoppages before it was eventually cut short when Jade Edwards' Honda went off-track in the final five minutes.
Josh Cook – Edwards' One Motorsport with Starline Racing team-mate – experienced a topsy turvy session as he initially set a lap time to go P1, before he also had his own excursion onto the grass before making light contact with a barrier. He eventually finished second on the timesheets.
Four of the next five in the order can consider themselves title contenders with Jake Hill (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport), Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK), Colin Turkington (Team BMW) and Dan Cammish (NAPA Racing UK) all in the thick of the action.
Andrew Watson starred in fifth for CarStore Power Maxed Racing as he got his Jack Sears Trophy challenge to the best possible start.
Local lads – Rory Butcher and Ronan Pearson – were eighth and ninth respectively, whilst Daniel Lloyd rounded out the top ten.
Aside from the stoppages involving Edwards and Cook, there was another when George Gamble's Toyota ground to a halt at Duffers Dip.
Free Practice 2 takes place at 1205 before qualifying for Round 19 of the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship takes place at 1515 and will be streamed live on the ITV Sport YouTube channel.
2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – FP1 – Knockhill
1. Ricky Collard, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK 56.331s
2. Josh Cook, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +0.071s
3. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +0.079s
4. Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +0.146s
5. Colin Turkington, Team BMW +0.215s
6. Andrew Watson, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +0.219s
7. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +0.225s
8. Rory Butcher, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +0.288s
9. Ronan Pearson, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +0.366s
10. Daniel Lloyd, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils +0.373s
11. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +0.441s
12. George Gamble, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +0.497s
13. Tom Chilton, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +0.635s
14. Árón Taylor-Smith, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +0.641s
15. Stephen Jelley, Team BMW +0.679s
16. Aiden Moffat, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +0.797s
17. Adam Morgan, Team BMW +0.820s
18. Mikey Doble, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +0.982s
19. Tom Ingram, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +1.179s
20. Michael Crees, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils +1.411s
21. Rob Huff, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown +1.557s
22. Jade Edwards, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +1.863s
23. Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK +1.899s
24. Jack Butel, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown +1.931s
25. Daryl DeLeon, Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD +2.393s
26. Dexter Patterson, Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD DNS
