The BTCC Hybrid Toyota Corolla contested a competitive session for the first time this morning during Free Practice 1 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone.
Piloted by 2013 champion Andrew Jordan, the car went through a series of systems checks during the 40 minutes of running, only completing representative laps in the closing minutes – ending up some seven tenths off the ultimate pace.
"It’s good, I’ve done a fair bit of the testing with Cosworth, Speedworks and M-Sport with the new engine as well," said Jordan. "So, lots of miles, but obviously this is the first time in the public eye."
The entire 30-car field was covered by an astonishing 1.049s as many predict one of the most fiercely contested weekends of the season so far.
It's also building towards the business end of the season with many drivers looking to keep their title hopes alive around the shorter national circuit.
One of those racers is arguably Toyota Gazoo UK Racing's Rory Butcher, and the Scotsman kicked off his weekend by topping the times, ahead of the EXCELR8 Motorsport-run Hyundai of Chris Smiley.
The duo traded top spot before Butcher made his final effort count in the latter stages.
Laser Tools Racing – fresh from a stellar outing at Croft last weekend – continued its run of good form as Aiden Moffat and Ash Sutton were third and fourth respectively.
Tom Ingram (Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com) and Josh Cook (BTC Racing) are two other title contenders looking to keep their championship challenges on-track – they were inside the top six, ahead of Daniel Rowbottom's Team Dynamics-run Honda.
Sam Smelt (Toyota Gazoo Racing UK), Jack Goff (Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct) , Gordon Shedden (Halfords Racing with Cataclean) completed the top ten.
Free Practice 2 commences at 1205, before Qualifying for Round 22 of the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship kicks off at 1440 – the latter will be streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc.
2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 1 – Silverstone
1 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +57.478s
2 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +0.010s
3 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.146s
4 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.217s
5 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +0.247s
6 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +0.270s
7 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.302s
8 Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +0.314s
9 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +0.401s
10 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.404s
11 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +0.463s
12 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +0.497s
13 Jack BUTEL (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +0.508s
14 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +0.545s
15 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +0.574s
16 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +0.625s
17 Senna PROCTOR(GBR) BTC Racing +0.626s
18 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.657s
19 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +0.704s
20 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +0.716s
21 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.726s
22 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) TOCA/Cosworth/M-Sport +0.750s
23 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.769s
24 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.814s
25 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.828s
26 Rick PARFRITT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +0.847s
27 Jack MITCHELL (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +0.864s
28 Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +0.908s
29 Andy NEATE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +0.971s
30 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading +2.319s
