Mat Jackson topped the opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship practice session at Silverstone this morning (26 September), which was cut short after an accident involving Warren Scott in the closing minutes.
Motorbase Performance driver Jackson was in contention throughout much of the running before eventually setting a 58.952s benchmark. Josh Cook – fresh from his maiden BTCC podium at Rockingham – was second ahead of Scott's Team BMR RCIB Insurance VW.
Despite Scott's impressive top three position his session ended in huge disappointment after his car veered off at high speed on the exit of Copse. His VW CC made heavy contact with the barrier before coming to rest at the side of the circuit with major front-end damage.
The BTCC Medical Team arrived on the scene within seconds and with Warren citing some pain he was slowly and cautiously extricated from his vehicle. The Team BMR boss was conscious throughout and has since been transferred to the Silverstone Medical Centre for further assessment – we will provide further updates as soon as possible.
Many drivers were in the midst of a late run when the red flags came out, preventing undoubted changes in the order.
This left Jack Goff and Dave Newsham in fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of a trio of title winners. Gordon Shedden's Honda, Colin Turkington's VW and Andrew Jordan's MG filled those positions with triple World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx in ninth. Aron Smith led the session at the midway stage but eventually had to settle for tenth.
Priaulx is making his comeback after missing the recent Rockingham round, whilst Simon Belcher returns to action in the Handy Motorsport Toyota.
Tony Gilham completed his first BTCC session since 2012 and finished 25th in the Team HARD-prepared Toyota Avensis.
BTCC - Silverstone - Free Practice 1 positions:
1 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance
2 Josh COOK (R) (GBR) Power Maxed Racing
3 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Team BMR RCIB Insurance
4 Jack GOFF (GBR) MG 888 Racing
5 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) Power Maxed Racing
6 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Honda Yuasa Racing
7 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMR RCIB Insurance
8 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) MG 888 Racing
9 Andy PRIAULX (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club
10 Aron SMITH (IRL) Team BMR RCIB Insurance
11 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing
12 Matt NEAL (GBR) Honda Yuasa Racing
13 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) JCT600 Racing with GardX
14 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport
15 Jason PLATO (GBR) Team BMR RCIB Insurance
16 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing
17 Mike BUSHELL (R) (GBR) AmD Tuning.com
18 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Exocet AlcoSense
19 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing
20 Robert COLLARD (GBR) JCT600 Racing with GardX
21 James COLE (GBR) Motorbase Performance
22 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing
23 Daniel WELCH (GBR) Welch Motorsport
24 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Exocet AlcoSense
25 Tony GILHAM (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing
26 Simon BELCHER (GBR) Handy Motorsport
27 Stewart LINES (R) (GBR) Houseman Racing
28 Derek PALMER (R) (GBR) Support Our Paras Racing
29 Alex MARTIN (R) (GBR) Dextra Racing
30 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com
Click here for the full classification from FP1.
