Halfords Yuasa Racing's Dan Cammish set the pace in the final BTCC practice session at Rockingham, pipping the impressive VW of Mike Bushell by 0.019s.
Honda rookie Cammish has shown flashes of blistering pace in his maiden tin-top campaign but the Yorkshireman is still searching for his first win in the UK's premier motorsport series. The 27-year-old has the second highest qualifying average of any driver in the championship, and he'll be looking to perform again during this afternoon's session.
Kent-based Bushell – driving the Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing VW – is another racer to have shown good speed on a Saturday during the 2018 BTCC season. Despite some good practice performances, however, he has yet to convert that into solid points paying positions come Sunday afternoon.
"We were looking like we’d be there or thereabouts at Snetterton but things just went a little bit awry." said Bushell. "I’ve worked all week with my guys to try and improve things further and it’s looking promising. I’ve had plenty of poles and race wins here at Rockingham in the Renault UK Clio Cup – it’s a place I enjoy going to but I’m not going to get ahead of myself.
"I’d said before the weekend that we’re looking at a top ten and I thought that was realistic but judging by our pace so far, we could be on for better still!"
Power Maxed TAG Racing's Senna Proctor and Simpson Racing's Matt Simpson completed a rather surprising looking top four in the final session, whilst Tom Ingram was again the highest of the main championship protagonists in fifth. Speedworks Motorsport star Ingram was quickest during the morning running and then backed that up with another decent showing in FP2 in his ballast-laden Toyota Avensis.
Sam Tordoff's Ford Focus and Adam Morgan's Mercedes were others who went well in both sessions, whilst title challenger Jack Goff clocked the eighth fastest time.
Bobby Thompson – fresh from a top ten finish and his best ever weekend at Snetterton last time out – further showed the speed on the Team HARD VWs with ninth, whilst Ollie Jackson's rounded out the top ten in the AmD Audi.
A number of the main title contenders failed to trouble the top ten including the trio of Colin Turkington (BMW), Matt Neal (Honda) and Ash Sutton (Subaru), who could only manage 14th, 15th and 16th respectively.
Qualifying will take place at 14:50 later this afternoon, with Rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship taking place at Rockingham tomorrow afternoon. Qualifying can be streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc with the entire race day being screened live on ITV4 from 1030.
2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Rockingham
1 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 1m22.817s
2 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +0.019s
3 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.511s
4 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.524s
5 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.603s
6 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team GardX Racing with Motorbase +0.624s
7 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +0.629s
8 Jack GOFF (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +0.648s
9 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +0.649s
10 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +0.687s
11 Dan LLOYD (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.695s
12 Brett SMITH (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +0.757s
13 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing +0.863s
14 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.887s
15 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.931s
16 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.954s
17 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +0.971s
18 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.052s
19 Michael CAINE (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +1.055s
20 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1.079s
21 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +1.081s
22 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +1.114s
23 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +1.125s
24 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +1.201s
25 Josh COOK (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +1.287s
26 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +1.329s
27 Ricky COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +1.468s
28 James COLE (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +1.576s
29 Sam SMELT (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +1.790s
30 Glynn GEDDIE (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +2.070s
31 Ollie PIDGLEY (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +2.456s
