Subaru’s Ash Sutton ended two days of British Touring Car Championship testing at Snetterton in Norfolk with the top time, after posting the fastest lap on Thursday morning before rain limited the day’s running.
Sutton hit the top of the times in Thursday’s morning session, post a lap of 1 minute 57.130 seconds to go 0.059 seconds than Eurotech Racing’s Jack Goff, who also posted his best lap of the day before lunch on Thursday.
After lunch effective running was limited after heavy rain, hail and thunder hit the Norfolk circuit, rendering any running pointless as track conditions deteriorated. A few drivers took to the circuit late in the day as the track dried out, but lap times did not beat those posted earlier in the day or on Wednesday.
Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram ended up with the third best time posted on Thursday morning, ahead of Team HARD’s Jake Hill, who had posted his best lap in Wednesday’s afternoon session.
BTC Norlin Racing’s Dave Newsham was an impressive fifth overall, ahead of the leading factory-supported BMW of Colin Turkington in sixth.
AmD Tuning’s Ollie Jackson was an impressive seventh, just over sixteenths off the pace, ahead of Ciceley Motorsport duo Aiden Moffat in eighth and Adam Morgan in ninth. All three posted their best times on Wednesday afternoon.
Motorbase’s Mat Jackson completed the top ten, ending up as the best-placed driver who set their fastest lap on Wednesday morning.
Jason Plato continued to work on fixing the problems which have blighted his Subaru Levorg for the first half of the season, but the BMR driver could only end the two-day test in 19th, 1.314 seconds off the pace of his team-mate.
The busiest driver out of the 29 participants over the two days was Power Maxed Racing’s Tom Chilton, who ended up with the 24th best time after making a concerted effort to learn more about his new Astra. Chilton was the only one of the team’s drivers to participate in the test, with Senna Proctor not present.
Three drivers got their first taste of BTCC machinery during the test. Eurotech Racing gave Brett Smith, who will replace father Jeff in the team for the rest of the season, his first run in the Honda Civic, with the 25-year-old ending up 12th in the combined classification.
Also getting their first taste of BTCC cars were Chris Milford, in a Team HARD Volkswagen CC, and Rory Butcher, in a Motorbase Ford Focus. They ended up in 27th and 29th respectively, sandwiching Stewart Lines who took to the wheel of his outfit’s Ford Focus.
The BTCC resumes at Snetterton later in the month on the 29th and 30th July.
Thursday combined times
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON |  |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 32 | 1:57.130 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 44 | 1:57.189 | 0.059 |
| 3 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 34 | 1:57.393 | 0.263 |
| 4 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 30 | 1:57.496 | 0.366 |
| 5 | 4 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 36 | 1:57.655 | 0.525 |
| 6 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 22 | 1:57.863 | 0.733 |
| 7 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 27 | 1:58.137 | 1.007 |
| 8 | 3 | Mat JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 25 | 1:58.151 | 1.021 |
| 9 | 28 | Josh PRICE | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 36 | 1:58.180 | 1.050 |
| 10 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 39 | 1:58.282 | 1.152 |
| 11 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 26 | 1:58.318 | 1.188 |
| 12 | 20 | James COLE | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 23 | 1:58.325 | 1.195 |
| 13 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 44 | 1:58.398 | 1.268 |
| 14 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 1:58.447 | 1.317 |
| 15 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 26 | 1:58.486 | 1.356 |
| 16 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 49 | 1:58.514 | 1.384 |
| 17 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TAG Racing | Volkswagen CC | 34 | 1:58.551 | 1.421 |
| 18 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 40 | 1:58.554 | 1.424 |
| 19 | 7 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 32 | 1:58.562 | 1.432 |
| 20 | 61 | Will BURNS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 36 | 1:59.009 | 1.879 |
| 21 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 24 | 1:59.032 | 1.902 |
| 22 | 5 | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 30 | 1:59.087 | 1.957 |
| 23 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 52 | 1:59.225 | 2.095 |
| 24 | 2 | Tom CHILTON | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 56 | 1:59.421 | 2.291 |
| 25 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 46 | 2:00.398 | 3.268 |
| 26 | 30 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 12 | 2:17.161 | 20.031 |
Combined Wednesday and Thursday times
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 111 | 1:57.130 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 136 | 1:57.189 | 0.059 |
| 3 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 84 | 1:57.393 | 0.263 |
| 4 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TAG Racing | Volkswagen CC | 93 | 1:57.420 | 0.290 |
| 5 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 97 | 1:57.496 | 0.366 |
| 6 | 4 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 89 | 1:57.655 | 0.525 |
| 7 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 73 | 1:57.793 | 0.663 |
| 8 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 95 | 1:57.824 | 0.694 |
| 9 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 79 | 1:57.848 | 0.718 |
| 10 | 3 | Mat JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 79 | 1:58.024 | 0.894 |
| 11 | 61 | Will BURNS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 109 | 1:58.025 | 0.895 |
| 12 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 110 | 1:58.123 | 0.993 |
| 13 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 89 | 1:58.137 | 1.007 |
| 14 | 28 | Josh PRICE | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 102 | 1:58.180 | 1.050 |
| 15 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 99 | 1:58.214 | 1.084 |
| 16 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 65 | 1:58.226 | 1.096 |
| 17 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 110 | 1:58.282 | 1.152 |
| 18 | 20 | James COLE | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 84 | 1:58.325 | 1.195 |
| 19 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 72 | 1:58.444 | 1.314 |
| 20 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 40 | 1:58.554 | 1.424 |
| 21 | 7 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 96 | 1:58.562 | 1.432 |
| 22 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 55 | 1:58.682 | 1.552 |
| 23 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 82 | 1:58.760 | 1.630 |
| 24 | 2 | Tom CHILTON | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 143 | 1:58.783 | 1.653 |
| 25 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 94 | 1:58.928 | 1.798 |
| 26 | 5 | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 42 | 1:59.087 | 1.957 |
| 27 | 51 | Chris MILFORD | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 74 | 2:00.205 | 3.075 |
| 28 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 121 | 2:00.398 | 3.268 |
| 29 | 30 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 12 | 2:17.161 | 20.031 |