Andrew Jordan set the fastest lap time in a damp and drizzly opening BTCC Free Practice session at Donington Park, as he edged out 2017 Champion Ash Sutton by just 0.050s.
"It felt good out of the box and we worked through some changes in FP1," said Jordan. "We've got some bigger changes to put us in the ballpark for qualifying. I just feel very at home in the 3 Series and I did from very early on in the first test.
"We probably had to reevaluate our expectations after Brands Hatch but we won't get carried away. If we can be up there week in, week out then that's the ideal. It's my local track here and I love it. I've got lots of friends coming, hopefully it's going to be a great weekend."
Light ran fell throughout the 40 minutes of running which was also halted early on when high winds moved a tyre stack on to the circuit. There was one further stoppage when Nic Hamilton went off at Redgate late on, but there was no shortage of action as all drivers got to grips with the new Dunlop BluResponse wet tyre.
With conditions expected to remain wet for much of Saturday it was vital to collect valuable data ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session, although overall lap times were understandably hard to judge.
The big guns were out in force at the top of the timesheets, however, as Dan Cammish (Halfords Yuasa Racing), Tom Ingram (Team Toyota GB with Ginsters), Colin Turkington (Team BMW) and Jason Plato (Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing) followed Jordan and Sutton in the order.
BTC Racing's Chris Smiley was seventh overall, ahead of the AmD Honda pairing of Rory Butcher and Sam Tordoff, whilst Jack Goff rounded out the top ten in the RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport VW.
Free Practice 2 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park will take place at 12:35, before qualifying kicks off at 15:15, which will be streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc.
2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 1 – Donington Park
1 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing 1m18.892s
2 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.050s
3 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.182s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Team Toyota GB with Ginsters +0.209s
5 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.358s
6 Jason PLATO (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +0.525s
7 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Racing +0.664s
8 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +0.740s
9 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +0.766s
10 Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +0.865s
11 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +0.873s
12 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.923s
13 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.997s
14 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +1.007s
15 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +1.057s
16 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +1.122s
17 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +1.190s
18 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.192s
19 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +1.211s
20 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +1.245s
21 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Motorbase +1.257s
22 Jake HILL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +1.416s
23 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.436s
24 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +1.798s
25 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +2.053s
26 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport +2.355s
27 Michael CREES (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +2.384s
28 Rob SMITH (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +3.057s
29 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +3.424s
30 Mark BLUNDELL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +3.710s
