MG’s Sam Tordoff was the fastest driver in first practice for the British Touring Car Championship at Rockingham Motor Speedway, beating Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan to the top time in thick fog.
Tordoff held on to the top time for most of the session, despite Jordan holding the fastest lap for a period after 20 minutes. In the end the reigning champion was a mere 0.001 seconds slower than Tordoff after the MG driver improved his time inside the final ten minutes of the session.
Third fastest was WIX Racing’s Adam Morgan, with the Mercedes driver also ending the session within a tenth of the pace.
Championship leader Colin Turkington was fourth, ahead of Honda’s Gordon Shedden and a strong performance by Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram in sixth.
Airwaves Racing’s Fabrizio Giovanardi was seventh fastest and the top Ford driver, ahead of Honda’s Matt Neal, MG’s Jason Plato and Airwaves team-mate Mat Jackson who completed the top ten.
Team BMR’s Alain Menu was just outside the top ten in 11th, ahead of Rob Austin, who took his first-ever BTCC win at the circuit in 2013, in 12th. Austin was the last driver to be within a second of the pace.
The red flags briefly went out after 20 minutes when Pirtek Racing’s Martin Depper went off the circuit on the infield section, although his Honda Civic was undamaged in the incident.
Second free practice takes place at 12:40 BST.
Top ten times
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 88 | M | Sam TORDOFF |  |
MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save | MG6 | 19 | 1:23.357 | |
| 2 | 1 | I | Andrew JORDAN | |
Pirtek Racing | Honda Civic | 15 | 1:23.358 | 0.001 |
| 3 | 33 | I | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 1:23.433 | 0.076 |
| 4 | 5 | I | Colin TURKINGTON | |
eBay Motors | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:23.618 | 0.261 |
| 5 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Tourer | 13 | 1:23.838 | 0.481 |
| 6 | 80 | I | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 16 | 1:23.900 | 0.543 |
| 7 | 7 | I | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI |  |
Airwaves Racing | Ford Focus ST | 16 | 1:24.069 | 0.712 |
| 8 | 4 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Tourer | 15 | 1:24.088 | 0.731 |
| 9 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save | MG6 | 15 | 1:24.173 | 0.816 |
| 10 | 6 | I | Mat JACKSON | |
Airwaves Racing | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 1:24.198 | 0.841 |