WIX Racing with Eurotech took the top two positions in the final BTCC free practice session at Brands Hatch as Jack Goff topped team-mate Brett Smith.
Honda machinery occupied the first six positions at one stage during the 40-minute session, before Tom Ingram's Toyota got amongst the Civics.
When the dust finally settled it was Goff ahead of Smith by 0.075s, whilst the manufacturer-backed Type Rs of Dan Cammish and Matt Neal sandwiched Ingram's Speedworks car on the timesheets.
"It was just about finding the balance in the car and I’m less than a tenth off Jack (Goff), so I’ve got to be happy with that," commented second-placed Smith. "It’d be great if I could put it back on pole. Dad did it last year and it’d be brilliant if I could do it this year. I’m going to give it a good go but you don’t know what others are doing. We didn’t go full chat and we think there’s more in the tank. It’d be nice to get into the 47’s for sure."
Chris Smiley and Matt Simpson produced stellar results in the independently run Norlin and Simpson Hondas respectively. Smiley and Norlin seem to have immediately benefitted from the switch to Honda for 2018, whilst Simpson is also reaping the rewards from having Eurotech running his identical car.
James Cole continued Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher's steady morning with eighth, although team-mate Tom Chilton suffered with suspension problems during the session.
The Vauxhall boys of Josh Cook and Senna Proctor completed the top ten places as the striking Power Maxed TAG Astras showed their prowess around the 1.2-mile circuit.
Surprisingly, there were no BMWs or Subarus in the top ten - last year's top two manufacturers. 2017 runner-up Colin Turkington did have an overheating problem during FP2, which restricted his running, whilst the trio of Levorgs could only manage 25th, 28th and 32nd in the final classification.
The competitiveness of Britain's best championship was there for all to see with the top 30 cars separated by less than a second.
The opening qualifying session of the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will take place at 15:15 today, with all the action being streamed live and exclusively via www.itv.com/btcc.
2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Brands Hatch Indy
1 Jack GOFF (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech 48.295s
2 Brett SMITH (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +0.075s
3 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.098s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.165s
5 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.226s
6 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.336s
7 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.404s
8 James COLE (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.435s
9 Josh COOK (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.437s
10 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.440s
11 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.468s
12 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +0.469s
13 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.472s
14 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +0.477s
15 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +0.483s
16 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +0.520s
17 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team GardX Racing with Motorbase +0.536s
18 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing +0.582s
19 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +0.636s
20 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.656s
21 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.699s
22 James NASH (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.701s
23 Michael CAINE (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +0.708s
24 Tom BOARDMAN (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.763s
25 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.771s
26 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.792s
27 Jake HILL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +0.816s
28 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.827s
29 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +0.878s
30 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +0.916s
31 Sam SMELT (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +1.073s
32 Josh PRICE (GBR) Autoglym Academy Racing +1.154s
