Halfords Racing with Cataclean driver Gordon Shedden hit the front in the second Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship free practice session at Thruxton as conditions continued to prove challenging for the 29-cars on-track.
Rain has fallen for much of the morning at the Hampshire venue, and with heavy winds now joining proceedings, ultimate lap times were marginally slower than this morning's session.
Shedden – returning to the series after a three-year hiatus – has been in fine form throughout pre-season and has delivered on his potential so far at Thruxton, as he edged out FP1 pace-setter Ash Sutton by two-tenths of a second.
Both Shedden and Laser Tools Racing's Sutton have been consistently towards the front during practice and will clearly consider themselves contenders for this afternoon's all-important qualifying session, albeit with unknown conditions for the remainder of the day.
Daniel Rowbottom is enjoying a stellar first day at the office with Halfords Racing with Cataclean as he set the third fastest lap time, ahead of BTC Racing's Dan Cammish and Team BMW's Tom Oliphant.
Jason Plato has been cemented inside the top six during practice and the off-season improvements to the Vauxhall Astra look to have Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing in a positive position.
Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com's Tom Ingram was seventh, whilst Aiden Moffat's encouraging day continued with eighth in the Laser Tools Racing Infiniti Q50.
BTC Racing's Josh Cook and Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan completed the top ten order.
Despite the conditions it has been a relatively trouble-free practice run for all teams with Tom Chilton's clutch problem in the BMW and Glynn Geddie's off in the Cupra being the most notable issues.
Qualifying for Round 1 for the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will take place at 1445 with the action getting underway ten minutes earlier via www.itv.com/btcc.
2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 - Thruxton
1 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean 1:20.994s
2 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.200s
3 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.266s
4 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) BTC Racing +0.344s
5 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.423s
6 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +0.545s
7 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +0.553s
8 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.585s
9 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +0.797s
10 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +0.901s
11 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.996s
12 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +0.998s
13 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +1.227s
14 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +1.382s
15 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +1.405s
16 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +1.486s
17 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +1.687s
18 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +1.867s
19 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +2.301s
20 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +2.051s
21 Andy NEATE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +2.055s
22 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +2.068s
23 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +2.153s
24 Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +2.314s
25 Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +3.276s
26 Jack BUTEL (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +3.672s
27 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading +3.888s
28 Rick PARFITT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +4.181s
