Team BMW’s Tom Oliphant led his teammates Andrew Jordan and Colin Turkington in a drizzly second practice of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch Indy, with Jason Plato just behind the BMW trio.
Jason Plato set the early pace before Oliphant bested his time with a 48.475 second lap, which was not bettered for the remainder of the 40-minute session.
Conditions then worsened as rain began to fall, before Aiden Moffat went off at Paddock Hill Bend and necessitated a red flag.
Following that, Oliphant’s teammates Andrew Jordan and Colin Turkington made last-gasp improvements to secure second and third respectively, meaning the new BMW 330i M Sport secured the top-three spots.
That left Plato in fourth, ahead of Motorbase Performance’s Tom Chilton, who was sliding his Ford Focus RS on multiple occasions in the slippery conditions.
Tom Ingram’s new Toyota Corolla was sixth, ahead of AmD Tuning’s Jake Hill, who continued his positive practice pace in the Audi S3.
Dan Cammish led the Honda charge in eighth position, followed by Motorbase’s Ollie Jackson, with the in-form Sam Tordoff rounding out the top ten.
Chris Smiley was ahead of 2017 champion Ash Sutton, with Stephen Jelley’s BMW 125i M Sport in 13th.
Race-winner Matt Simpson was 14th, despite an off at Surtees after losing the rear and taking to the grass.
Ginetta GT4 Supercup graduate Michael Crees nearly had a big moment on the exit of Graham Hill Bend after seemingly struggling to get heat into his tyres.
Qualifying for the opening round of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch is set to get underway at 15:05 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT |  |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 34 | 48.475 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 330i M Sport | 23 | 48.574 | 0.099 |
| 3 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 30 | 48.667 | 0.192 |
| 4 | 11 | Jason PLATO | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 23 | 48.874 | 0.399 |
| 5 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 19 | 48.958 | 0.483 |
| 6 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Team Toyota GB with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 21 | 48.980 | 0.505 |
| 7 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 27 | 48.991 | 0.516 |
| 8 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 49.081 | 0.606 |
| 9 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 25 | 49.129 | 0.654 |
| 10 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 49.146 | 0.671 |
| 11 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 49.181 | 0.706 |
| 12 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 22 | 49.192 | 0.717 |
| 13 | 12 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 22 | 49.261 | 0.786 |
| 14 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 30 | 49.306 | 0.831 |
| 15 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 28 | 49.342 | 0.867 |
| 16 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 26 | 49.346 | 0.871 |
| 17 | 9 | Rob COLLARD | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 28 | 49.358 | 0.883 |
| 18 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 20 | 49.379 | 0.904 |
| 19 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 26 | 49.417 | 0.942 |
| 20 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 26 | 49.464 | 0.989 |
| 21 | 41 | Carl BOARDLEY | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 25 | 49.534 | 1.059 |
| 22 | 8 | Mark BLUNDELL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 17 | 49.760 | 1.285 |
| 23 | 37 | Rob SMITH | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 33 | 49.850 | 1.375 |
| 24 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 49.976 | 1.501 |
| 25 | 777 | Michael CREES | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 50.051 | 1.576 |
| 26 | 28 | Nicolas HAMILTON | |
ROKiT Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 22 | 50.086 | 1.611 |
| 27 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | |
Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 24 | 50.302 | 1.827 |
| 28 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 19 | 50.491 | 2.016 |
| 29 | 4 | Sam OSBORNE | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 32 | 50.552 | 2.077 |
| 30 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 11 | 53.183 | 4.708 |