Current championship leader Ash Sutton has topped the opening Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship Free Practice session at Thruxton, as he edged out the BMW of Andrew Jordan by just 0.071s.
The drivers were greeted by damp conditions in Hampshire and the action was stopped briefly when the Audi of Mark Blundell went off mid-session. With little to be learned, particularly with most of the drivers having enjoyed a recent test day at the UK's fastest track, the likes of Matt Neal, Tom Ingram and Josh Cook failed to set a representative time in FP1.
Times tumbled late on and it was Adrian Flux Subaru Racing's Sutton that eventually set the pace, particularly impressive when you consider his Levorg is carrying maximum success ballast into the weekend.
The BMW Pirtek Racing BMW 3 Series of Jordan has an equally positive story behind it, with his WSR team having had to completely rebuild the car after his sizeable shunt at Donington Park last time out.
Reigning champion Colin Turkington was third for Team BMW with Jake Hill following closely behind. It has been a strong start to the season for Kent driver Hill and he continues to look more and more at home in the AmD-run Audi S3.
Three of Adam Morgan's seven career BTCC victories have come at Thruxton and the Mercedes man looks like he's ready to challenge here again after clocking the fifth fastest time in his Mac Tools-backed Ciceley Mercedes.
Stephen Jelley and Rory Butcher have both made headlines already this season – standing on the podium together for race three at Brands Hatch – and the two talented racers were comfortably inside the top ten in the opening practice session at Thruxton.
Sam Tordoff, Senna Proctor and Rob Collard rounded out the top ten positions.
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will be back on track at 12:20 before qualifying commences at 15:05, the latter session being streamed live and exclusively at www.itv.com/btcc.
2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 1 – Thruxton Circuit
1 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing 1m16.531s
2 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.071s
3 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.286s
4 Jake HILL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +0.367s
5 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +0.372s
6 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +0.439s
7 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +0.474s
8 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +0.682s
9 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.692s
10 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +0.841s
11 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.884s
12 Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +0.996s
13 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport +1.063s
14 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +1.805s
15 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +1.824s
16 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +1.852s
17 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +1.986s
18 Rob SMITH (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +2.238s
19 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +2.963s
20 Michael CREES (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +3.264s
21 Jason PLATO (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +3.492s
22 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Motorbase +5.190s
23 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +5.441s
24 Mark BLUNDELL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +10.503s
25 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +11.723s
26 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing NO TIME
27 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Team Toyota GB with Ginsters NO TIME
28 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing NO TIME
29 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing NO TIME
30 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Racing NO TIME
