Championship leader Ash Sutton set the pace in the opening British Touring Car Championship practice session at Thruxton, heading the Team BMW duo of Andrew Jordan and Colin Turkington.
The 40-minute session started under tricky, greasy conditions with most runners heading out on wets, before switching to slicks for the second half of the session.
One such driver was Mark Blundell, who lost the rear end of his Audi S3 at Goodwood corner on fresh slicks, causing a red flag but eventually being able to continue in the session after only making light contact with the barrier.
Once the session resumed, 2017 champion Sutton set the benchmark with a time of 1:16.531, just under a tenth clear of Jordan who returns to action after a heavy shunt in race one at Donington Park which ruled him out of the remaining races.
He led reigning champion Colin Turkington, with Jake Hill an impressive fourth ahead of Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan.
Stephen Jelley’s older-generation BMW 125i M Sport placed sixth ahead of the AmD Tuning duo of Brands Hatch winner Rory Butcher and 2016 runner-up Sam Tordoff, who finished the session in seventh and eighth respectively.
Sutton’s Team BMR stablemate Senna Proctor was ninth, with Rob Collard, who scored a podium last time out at Donington, rounding out the top ten in his Vauxhall Astra.
Notably, a handful of regular frontrunners seemingly suffered from transponder issues, with the Team Dynamics duo of Matt Neal and Dan Cammish not setting a time, and the same story for Tom Ingram.
Neither BTC Racing Honda Civics set a time, with Josh Cook and Chris Smiley also not setting a time.
Second practice at Hampshire’s Thruxton circuit is scheduled to get underway at 12:20 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON |  |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 16 | 1:16.531 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 330i M Sport | 14 | 1:16.602 | 0.071 |
| 3 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 12 | 1:16.817 | 0.286 |
| 4 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 18 | 1:16.898 | 0.367 |
| 5 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 13 | 1:16.903 | 0.372 |
| 6 | 12 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 11 | 1:16.970 | 0.439 |
| 7 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1:17.005 | 0.474 |
| 8 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 1:17.213 | 0.682 |
| 9 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 16 | 1:17.223 | 0.692 |
| 10 | 9 | Rob COLLARD | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 12 | 1:17.372 | 0.841 |
| 11 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 10 | 1:17.415 | 0.884 |
| 12 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 14 | 1:17.527 | 0.996 |
| 13 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | |
Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 17 | 1:17.594 | 1.063 |
| 14 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:18.336 | 1.805 |
| 15 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 14 | 1:18.355 | 1.824 |
| 16 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 14 | 1:18.383 | 1.852 |
| 17 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 12 | 1:18.517 | 1.986 |
| 18 | 37 | Rob SMITH | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 16 | 1:18.769 | 2.238 |
| 19 | 41 | Carl BOARDLEY | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 14 | 1:19.494 | 2.963 |
| 20 | 777 | Michael CREES | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 1:19.795 | 3.264 |
| 21 | 11 | Jason PLATO | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 9 | 1:20.023 | 3.492 |
| 22 | 28 | Nicolas HAMILTON | |
ROKiT Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 13 | 1:21.721 | 5.190 |
| 23 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 11 | 1:21.972 | 5.441 |
| 24 | 8 | Mark BLUNDELL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 10 | 1:27.034 | 10.503 |
| 25 | 4 | Sam OSBORNE | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 9 | 1:28.254 | 11.723 |
| 26 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 5 | No time | N/A |
| 27 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Team Toyota GB with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 9 | No time | N/A |
| 28 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 5 | No time | N/A |
| 29 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 5 | No time | N/A |
| 30 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 2 | No time | N/A |