After dark horse Tom Ingram stole the honours with a pace-setting performance in the morning’s opening Free Practice session, it was West Surrey Racing’s Sam Tordoff who topped the standings in FP2 – and with an even faster record lap time.
Multiple BTCC champion Matt Neal and subsequently Ingram led the way over the early stages before times tumbled during the final ten minutes, as teams began to focus on their qualifying simulations.
Aron Smith was first to show his hand, leaping to the top of the pile for series newcomer BKR before Tordoff underlined the competitiveness of the rear-wheel drive BMW around the short Brands Indy Circuit.
The impressive Ingram held onto third with Speedworks Motorsport, whilst a last-gasp effort from defending champion Gordon Shedden saw the Scot grab fourth spot for Halfords Yuasa Racing. Adam Morgan made it five different cars inside the top five with his WIX Racing Mercedes A-Class, with Neal in a second works Honda Civic Type R winding up sixth.
Colin Turkington was again the best-placed of the Subaru Team BMR quartet, lapping 19th-quickest, just over a second adrift of Tordoff’s benchmark. Setting another BTCC record, meanwhile, the full-capacity 32-car entry all took to the track, with rookie Michael Epps’ repaired RCIB Insurance Racing Toyota Avensis joining the morning’s already impressive tally of 31 challengers.
With both Free Practice sessions now completed, teams are gearing up for the season’s first no-holds-barred qualifying shoot-out – the only time all year when the entire BTCC field will run without success ballast. You can follow the action on www.itv.com/btcc at 15.40.
Free Practice 2
1 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX 48.132s
2 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +0.164s
3 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.217s
4 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.277s
5 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +0.352s
6 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.367s
7 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.407s
8 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.480s
9 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.515s
10 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.537s
11 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +0.550s
12 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.655s
13 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.672s
14 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.707s
15 Andy NEATE (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.727s
16 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +0.809s
17 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.848s
18 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +0.997s
19 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Subaru Team BMR +1.028s
20 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +1.041s
21 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDTuning.com +1.135s
22 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +1.252s
23 Jason PLATO (GBR) Subaru Team BMR +1.351s
24 Chris SMILEY (GBR) TLC Racing +1.359s
25 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +1.503s
26 Daniel WELCH (GBR) Goodstone Racing +1.532s
27 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Subaru Team BMR +1.537s
28 James COLE (GBR) Subaru Team BMR +1.581s
29 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +2.081s
30 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +2.270s
31 Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +2.443s
32 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +4.478s
For all the times from Free Practice 2, click here.
