Chris Smiley has completed a solid practice programme in the Draper Tools-backed EXCELR8 Hyundai as the Norhern Irishman set the quickest pace of the day so far during FP2.
The #22 car was second fastest during the wet/dry opening session, and Smiley duly backed up his potential with a 51.110s lap time during optimum conditions in the second segment.
“The car feels really good, normally when you’ve got a good balance in the wet, you’ve got a good balance in the dry," said Smiley. "But it’s going to be interesting qualifying on the soft tyre today, so I think the lap times are going to be really fast later on!”
Smiley's late flier scuppered a potential one-two for BTC Racing with Josh Cook and Senna Proctor eventually having to settle for second and third respectively.
Rory Butcher enjoyed a more routine session, following early morning alternator problems, as the Scotsman blasted his manufacturer-backed Toyota Corolla up to fourth.
Team BMW's Colin Turkington faces an important qualifying session later today, following a few challenging weekends, and the four-time champion looks to be back on the pace here at Knockhill.
The #2 BMW 330i M Sport was third earlier this morning and secured another top five result in FP2.
Sixth for Jack Goff in the Team HARD-run CUPRA represented good progress for the Kent team, whilst Team BMW's Stephen Jelley and Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing's Jason Plato also improved to take seventh and eighth.
Jake Hill (MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square) and Aiden Moffat (Laser Tools Racing) were separated by just 0.010s to round out the top ten, whilst 23 drivers were covered by less than a second.
Qualifying for Round 13 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship takes place at 1450 later today and will be streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc.
2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Knockhill
1 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +51.110s
2 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +0.125s
3 Senna PROCTOR(GBR) BTC Racing +0.140s
4 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +0.183s
5 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.257s
6 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +0.342s
7 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +0.353s
8 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +0.377s
9 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.382s
10 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.392s
11 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.424s
12 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.464s
13 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +0.489s
14 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.505s
15 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +0.538s
16 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +0.602s
17 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +0.653s
18 Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +0.721s
19 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +0.804s
20 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.808s
21 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +0.834s
22 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.863s
23 Jack MITCHELL (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +0.907s
24 Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +1.004s
25 Jack BUTEL (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +1.094s
26 Rick PARFITT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +1.208s
27 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +1.228.s
28 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading +1.312s
29 Paul RIVETT (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +1.362s
