Laser Tools Racing's Ash Sutton hit the top of the times in the second Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship Free Practice at Brands Hatch, as the reigning champion prepared for this afternoon's qualifying session in some style.
Running with maximum success ballast, the Infiniti Q50 driver set a 48.525s lap time around the 1.2-mile circuit – the fastest of the day so far – as he edged out the Halfords Racing with Cataclean pairing of Daniel Rowbottom and Gordon Shedden.
The Team Dynamics duo of Rowbottom and Shedden have been in fine form at the fantastic Kent track, as both drivers returned top three results in each of the practice sessions.
Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com's Tom Ingram has also enjoyed a positive build-up ahead of qualifying, as the Hyundai man grabbed fourth ahead of BTC Racing's Senna Proctor.
Three of the next four positions went to BMW machinery with Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan edging out manufacturer-backed Tom Oliphant and Stephen Jelley, whilst Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing's Jason Plato and BTC Racing's Josh Cook also grabbed top ten positions.
Both sessions have progressed without any major drama although both Ollie Jackson and Nic Hamilton endured minor excursions during FP2.
"That wasn’t the best way to start FP2 but it was my first mistake all season," said Hamilton.
“My target is always points, so top 15 onward is always my plan. You can see just from FP1, the times are just so close, two tenths is like seven places. We’re knocking on the door it’s just a tough championship and the more comfortable I get with the car underneath me, the more consistent I’ll be and the better I can get in terms of overall raw pace."
Qualifying for Round 7 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will take place at 1510 later today and will be streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc.
Tomorrow’s triple-header race day will be live on ITV3 from 1100.
2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Brands Hatch Indy
1 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing 48.525s
2 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.046s
3 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.057s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +0.185s
5 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) BTC Racing +0.240s
6 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +0.266s
7 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.276s
8 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +0.277s
9 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +0.311s
10 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +0.319s
11 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.346s
12 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +0.328s
13 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +0.399s
14 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.423s
15 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +0.438s
16 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +0.445s
17 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.453s
18 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +0.489s
19 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +0.516s
20 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.521s
21 Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +0.642s
22 Glynn GEDDIE (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +0.673s
23 Jack BUTEL (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +0.687s
24 Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +0.717s
25 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.756s
26 Andy Neate (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +0.911s
27 Rick PARFITT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +1.081s
28 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +1.088s
29 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading NO TIME
