Tom Ingram topped the time sheets in the opening practice session of the 2018 British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch.
The 2017 Independents champion clocked a fastest time of 48.384 seconds around the 1.2 mile Indy circuit at the Kent venue, with Jack Goff just 0.056s adrift in his Eurotech Honda Civic Type R, in turn just one thousandth of a second clear of Tom Chilton in the Motorbase Ford Focus RS.
Changeable conditions convinced some drivers to opt for wet tyres at the start of the session, but the circuit would quickly dry and most ran slicks for the remainder of free practice.
The Mercedes trio of Aiden Moffat, Adam Morgan and Tom Oliphant set the early pace, but times lowered dramatically as conditions improved.
Ingram eventually emerged atop the timesheets and stretched his advantage further before the conclusion of the forty-minute session.
In fourth position was Matt Simpson in the second Eurotech Honda, ahead of Sam Tordoff, who makes his return to the series this weekend in his Motorbase Ford.
Series debutante Dan Cammish would grab sixth position in the new-for-2018 Honda Civic Type R FK7 after he improved late in the session, ahead of Rory Butcher, who impressed in the AmD Tuning MG6 GT as he starts his first full-season campaign in the category.
He was just ahead of Josh Cook in the Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra, with 2017 runner-up Colin Turkington and Morgan’s Mercedes rounding out the top ten.
Defending champion Ashley Sutton had a quiet start to his title defence in 13th behind the wheel of the Subaru Levorg GT, with team-mate Jason Plato down in 26th.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 80 | Tom INGRAM |  |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 28 | 48.384 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 26 | 48.440 | 0.056 |
| 3 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 28 | 48.441 | 0.057 |
| 4 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 31 | 48.520 | 0.136 |
| 5 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team GardX Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 29 | 48.532 | 0.148 |
| 6 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 24 | 48.534 | 0.150 |
| 7 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG6 | 24 | 48.561 | 0.177 |
| 8 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 24 | 48.608 | 0.224 |
| 9 | 2 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 30 | 48.648 | 0.264 |
| 10 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
MAC Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 28 | 48.657 | 0.273 |
| 11 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 28 | 48.660 | 0.276 |
| 12 | 20 | James COLE | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 30 | 48.663 | 0.279 |
| 13 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 28 | 48.668 | 0.284 |
| 14 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 36 | 48.669 | 0.285 |
| 15 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 32 | 48.757 | 0.373 |
| 16 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 27 | 48.769 | 0.385 |
| 17 | 60 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 28 | 48.799 | 0.415 |
| 18 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 25 | 48.805 | 0.421 |
| 19 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 32 | 48.852 | 0.468 |
| 20 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 27 | 48.855 | 0.471 |
| 21 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 25 | 48.870 | 0.486 |
| 22 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 28 | 48.892 | 0.508 |
| 23 | 5 | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 33 | 49.016 | 0.632 |
| 24 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 26 | 49.088 | 0.704 |
| 25 | 12 | Tom BOARDMAN | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG6 | 15 | 49.227 | 0.843 |
| 26 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 25 | 49.229 | 0.845 |
| 27 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 23 | 49.253 | 0.869 |
| 28 | 14 | James NASH | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 30 | 49.296 | 0.912 |
| 29 | 44 | Michael CAINE | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 23 | 49.318 | 0.934 |
| 30 | 28 | Josh PRICE | |
Autoglym Academy Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 22 | 49.323 | 0.939 |
| 31 | 23 | Sam SMELT | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 23 | 49.861 | 1.477 |
| 32 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 4 | No time |