Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Tom Ingram made the early running as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship blasted back into action at Croft.
The UK's premier motorsport series returns after its annual mid-season break and the leading contenders were immediately on the pace during Free Practice 1.
Ingram's 1:21.906s lap time midway through his numerous runs edged out Team BMW's Colin Turkington by just 0.198s.
Turkington's 14 race wins at Croft is the most by any driver at a single circuit and he'll be looking for more heroics this time around to fire himself back into championship contention, having dropped to sixth in the standings during a difficult weekend at Oulton Park last time out.
Árón Taylor-Smith continued his run of great form with third in FP1. Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing enjoyed a stellar first half of the season, culminating in a double podium at Oulton Park, but the squad has still meticulously worked on the car during the break in its quest to claim further overall honours.
Rob Huff's return to the BTCC has had its ups and downs during the first half of 2024, but the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK racer will be buoyed by his fourth place pace in the opening practice session at Croft.
Reigning champ Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK) and standings leader Jake Hill (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport) were fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Josh Cook (LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ) and Dan Rowbottom (NAPA Racing UK).
Tom Chilton (Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS) and Adam Morgan (Team BMW) rounded out the top ten.
FP2 is due to get underway at 1210 before qualifying commences at 1500, the latter being streamed live via the ITV Sport YouTube channel.
Croft - Free Practice 1 - Final Classification:
| Pos | No. | Class | PIC | Name | Nationality | Entry | Vehicle | Time | On | Laps | Gap | Diff | Mph |
| 1 | 80 | BTCC - M | 1 | Tom INGRAM | GBR | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | Hyundai i30N | 1:21.906 | 7 | 16 | 92.3 | ||
| 2 | 20 | BTCC - M | 2 | Colin TURKINGTON | GBR | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 1:22.064 | 15 | 19 | 0.158 | 0.158 | 92.1 |
| 3 | 40 | BTCC - IND | 1 | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | IRL | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 1:22.280 | 7 | 16 | 0.374 | 0.216 | 91.8 |
| 4 | 12 | BTCC - M | 3 | Rob HUFF | GBR | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 1:22.300 | 16 | 18 | 0.394 | 0.02 | 91.8 |
| 5 | 1 | BTCC - M | 4 | Ashley SUTTON | GBR | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 1:22.304 | 6 | 16 | 0.398 | 0.004 | 91.8 |
| 6 | 24 | BTCC - M | 5 | Jake HILL | GBR | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 1:22.311 | 17 | 19 | 0.405 | 0.007 | 91.8 |
| 7 | 66 | BTCC - M | 6 | Josh COOK | GBR | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 1:22.332 | 10 | 14 | 0.426 | 0.021 | 91.8 |
| 8 | 32 | BTCC - M | 7 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | GBR | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 1:22.363 | 14 | 17 | 0.457 | 0.031 | 91.7 |
| 9 | 3 | BTCC - M | 8 | Tom CHILTON | GBR | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | Hyundai i30N | 1:22.379 | 9 | 15 | 0.473 | 0.016 | 91.7 |
| 10 | 33 | BTCC - M | 9 | Adam MORGAN | GBR | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 1:22.414 | 13 | 16 | 0.508 | 0.035 | 91.7 |
| 11 | 14 | BTCC - M | 10 | Ronan PEARSON | GBR | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | Hyundai i30N | 1:22.481 | 15 | 15 | 0.575 | 0.067 | 91.6 |
| 12 | 88 | BTCC - IND | 2 | Mikey DOBLE | GBR | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 1:22.633 | 8 | 15 | 0.727 | 0.152 | 91.4 |
| 13 | 27 | BTCC - M | 11 | Dan CAMMISH | GBR | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 1:22.732 | 14 | 16 | 0.826 | 0.099 | 91.3 |
| 14 | 222 | BTCC - IND | 3 | Chris SMILEY | GBR | Restart Racing | Cupra Leon | 1:22.871 | 10 | 12 | 0.965 | 0.139 | 91.2 |
| 15 | 11 | BTCC - M | 12 | Andrew WATSON | GBR | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 1:22.944 | 16 | 16 | 1.038 | 0.073 | 91.1 |
| 16 | 18 | BTCC - IND | 4 | Daryl DELEON | PHL | Duckhams Racing With Bartercard | Cupra Leon | 1:23.244 | 16 | 16 | 1.338 | 0.3 | 90.8 |
| 17 | 16 | BTCC - M | 13 | Aiden MOFFAT | GBR | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 1:23.423 | 12 | 12 | 1.517 | 0.179 | 90.6 |
| 18 | 77 | BTCC - M | 14 | Sam OSBORNE | GBR | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 1:23.438 | 9 | 17 | 1.532 | 0.015 | 90.6 |
| 19 | 29 | BTCC - IND | 5 | Scott SUMPTON | GBR | Restart Racing | Cupra Leon | 1:24.317 | 12 | 14 | 2.411 | 0.879 | 89.6 |
| 20 | 22 | BTCC - M | 15 | Nick HALSTEAD | GBR | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | Hyundai i30N | 1:26.425 | 14 | 16 | 4.519 | 2.108 | 87.4 |
