Eurotech Racing's Jack Goff has underlined his 2017 potential by setting the fastest lap in the opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Free Practice session at Thruxton.
"It’s been a great car ever since I started driving it – reliable and fast at both Brands and Donington – and I think we’re in for a good weekend at Thruxton," said Goff.
Honda machinery took up the top four positions in the recent test session at the Hampshire venue, and Matt Neal backed-up the Japanese marque's showing by taking second in FP1.
"The Civic Type R probably isn’t the fastest car over a single lap in qualifying just due to its shape and drag, but certainly in the race it comes alive and that’s so important in touring cars," continued Goff. "It’s not won on the first lap – it’s won over the whole distance – and we’ve seen in the past that it’s about being consistent throughout the season. The Civic doesn’t really have a weak track."
Adam Morgan and Andrew Jordan took a win apiece at Thruxton in 2016 and the pair have set the third and fourth fastest lap times this morning. Morgan's Mac Tools-backed Mercedes has always ran well at the UK's fastest track and he'll be a likely contender again this weekend, whilst Jordan's acclimatisation to a rear-wheel drive BMW continues to develop.
Ash Sutton was the standout Subaru performer with two podiums at Donington Park last time out, and the talented young gun picked up from where he left off by taking fifth here.
Chris Smiley, Matt Simpson and Dave Newsham were surprise packages in the top ten, whilst the Team BMW duo of Rob Collard and Colin Turkington will be content with seventh and tenth places respectively.
There was only one minor stoppage following an off for Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo driver Martin Depper, although the Ford Focus was able to recover to the pitlane with only cosmetic damage.
The overall pace was still some half a second shy of the recent test session so we expect times to tumble further during free practice two at 12:35 and again in qualifying at 16:10, which you can see live via www.itv.com/btcc.
2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 1 – Thruxton
1 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +1m16.454s (110.93mph)
2 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +0.100s
3 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.134s
4 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.391s
5 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.391s
6 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.690s
7 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +0.693s
8 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.701s
9 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.703s
10 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.773s
11 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.798s
12 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +0.865s
13 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.933s
14 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.940s
15 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat with Duo +0.946s
16 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.042s
17 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +1.163s
18 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +1.182s
19 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +1.223s
20 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +1.267s
21 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1.327s
22 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1.339s
23 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +1.356s
24 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +1.358s
25 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1.407s
26 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +1.532s
27 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.570s
28 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +1.713s
29 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +2.145s
30 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +2.172s
31 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +2.389s
32 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +2.477s
