Halfords Racing with Cataclean's Gordon Shedden secured day-one bragging rights as the Goodyear Tyre Test got underway today (12 July) at Snetterton in Norfolk.
Having gone fastest during the opening session, the Scotsman went quicker still in the afternoon to secure the top spot on the times at the 2.97-mile circuit.
"First of all the temperature has just been huge today," reflected the three-time champion. "It's been pretty hot work being in the car and for the mechanics as well, but overall it was good. We've been running through some of the Goodyear programme which was good and the car balance feels great on the standard tyre. So I'm looking forward to tomorrow and seeing how we go with some race runs.
"Obviously, we're now just over two weeks away from Knockhill so everyone is looking forward to that. The summer break seems to have gone really quickly and I'm sure the action will be fast and furious there."
Tom Ingram (Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com) repeated his earlier feat to take second on the timesheets this time from NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish, the same positions they would seal in the combined result, while Colin Turkington (Team BMW) and Josh Cook's (Rich Energy BTC Racing) earlier efforts saw them fourth and fifth on the overall times.
With track temperatures reaching as high as 36 degrees, all 28 drivers were put through their paces as they completed more than 1,200 laps and over 3,500 miles of testing.
Alongside the 2022 grid were a few additions throughout the day, as MINI CHALLENGE racers Dan Zelos and Jack Mitchell joined the fray, with Mitchell sharing driving duties in the Motorbase Performance-run Ford Focus with 2015 Le Mans winner Nick Tandy, while Zelos manned the #45 EXCELR8 Hyundai.
"I'm still on a bit of a high really," admitted Zelos. "The team has been really patient with me getting the hang of the car – it's very different to my Mini! I'm just trying to get to grips with it. I feel quite in at the deep end with Tom [Ingram,] Dan [Lloyd] and Tom [Chilton] all being race winners, but I feel very lucky and privileged to be able to be out there!"
The second day of running kicks off tomorrow from 0900, where the drivers and teams will continue running through various testing programmes to set themselves up strongly for the second half of the campaign, which gets underway at Knockhill in little over a fortnight (30/31 July)
Click here for the final classification from the opening day of the Goodyear Tyre Test at Snetterton.
