ROKiT MB Motorsport's Jake Hill set the fastest lap during the second free practice session at Thruxton this afternoon, as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship's trip to Hampshire continues.
As the title chase begins to take shape at this early stage of the season, a number of the leading protagonists remained towards the top of the timesheets in FP2 around the UK's fastest circuit.
Reigning champion Ash Sutton was second in the NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus, which seems to have made a number of performance improvements during practice, whilst Thruxton specialist Josh Cook was third in his Rich Energy BTC Racing Honda.
The Civic Type Rs of Halfords Yuasa Racing also proved potent with Dan Rowbottom and Gordon Shedden in fifth and seventh respectively, whilst NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish was wedged between them in sixth.
Multiple champions – Colin Turkington (Team BMW) and Jason Plato (Rich Energy BTC Racing) – were next in the order, ahead of a lively looking Tom Chilton in the Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com Hyundai.
As ever, Church – the fastest corner in UK motorsport – caught out a number of drivers with Aron Smith having a huge moment in his Team HARD-run CUPRA, whilst Ash Hand (CarStore Power Maxed Racing) and Dexter Patterson (Laser Tools Racing) also endured trips across the grass.
Rory Butcher's manufacturer-backed Toyota also had a wild spin at high speed during the 40-minutes of running, whilst the session ended when Laser Tools Racing's Aiden Moffat spun to a standstill.
“I’m happy with how second practice went," said Hill. "The car is quick and feels really good. We’re in a strong position heading into qualifying, it’s always so tight around here but we’ll be giving it our all to make sure we’re in the mix.”
Qualifying for Round 7 of the 2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will take place later this afternoon with the action getting underway from 1515 via www.itv.com/btcc.
2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Thruxton
1. Jake HILL (GBR) ROKiT MB Motorsport 1:15.722s
2. Ash SUTTON (GBR) NAPA Racing UK +0.174s
3. Josh COOK (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +0.227s
4. Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.247s
5. Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +0.361s
6. Dan CAMMISH (GBR) NAPA Racing UK + 0.377s
7. Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.476s
8. Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.572s
9. Jason PLATO (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +0.632s
10. Tom CHILTON (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +0.641s
11. Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +0.746s
12. Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +0.945s
13. Tom INGRAM (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +0.964s
14. Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +0.982s
15. Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +0.998s
16. Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +1.057s
17. Ash HAND (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing +1.083s
18. Michael CREES (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing + 1.115s
19. Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport + 1.216s
20. Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +1.255s
21. George GAMBLE (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +1.282s
22. Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +1.334s
23. Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1.375s
24. Ricky COLLARD (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +1.909s
25. Jack BUTEL (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +2.236s
26. Nic HAMILTON (GBR) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +2.295s
27. Dexter PATTERSON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +2.302s
28. Will POWELL (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +2.770s
29. Rick PARFITT (GBR) Uptonsteel with Euro Car Parts Racing +3.359s
