Standings leader Colin Turkington edged out title rival Dan Cammish by 0.030s in changeable conditions during the opening British Touring Car Championship session at Brands Hatch.
The session saw two stoppages in the first half, the first as a result of Michael Crees going straight on at Druids in his Volkswagen CC, before Michael Caine followed suit at the same corner, but was able to drive himself out of the gravel trap.
After that, the greasy 2.4-mile Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit began to dry, with runners switching to slick rubber within the final quarter of the 40-minute session.
Turkington, who currently sits 16 points clear of Cammish in the championship standings, set the benchmark late in the session with his time of 1:42.122 despite maximum ballast aboard his BMW 3 Series.
Team Dynamics’ Cammish was the sandwich in-between four rear-wheel drive machines, with renowned wet-weather specialist Ash Sutton behind him in third in this Subaru Levorg.
Laser Tools Racing’s Aiden Moffat, who secured the first podium for Infiniti in the BTCC in race three at Silverstone last time out, was fourth in the Q50 ahead of Stephen Jelley’s older BMW 125i M Sport.
In sixth position was Matt Simpson’s FK2 Honda Civic, while Andrew Jordan’s Pirtek-backed BMW sat seventh ahead of double Silverstone winner Tom Ingram.
Motorbase Performance’s Tom Chilton was ninth at his team’s local circuit, while Senna Proctor completed the top ten in the second BMR-run Subaru.
Jason Plato placed 11th in his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra, marginally ahead of old rival Matt Neal’s Honda, with the final title contender Josh Cook in 13th in another FK8 Civic.
He was ahead of team-mate Chris Smiley while Ollie Jackson’s Ford Focus RS rounded out the top fifteen.
The second practice session for the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch is scheduled to get underway at 12:05 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON |  |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 13 | 1:42.122 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:42.152 | 0.030 |
| 3 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 13 | 1:42.339 | 0.217 |
| 4 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 17 | 1:42.370 | 0.248 |
| 5 | 12 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 17 | 1:42.423 | 0.301 |
| 6 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 1:42.511 | 0.389 |
| 7 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 330i M Sport | 13 | 1:42.554 | 0.432 |
| 8 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Team Toyota GB with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 13 | 1:42.627 | 0.505 |
| 9 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 1:42.635 | 0.513 |
| 10 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 15 | 1:42.673 | 0.551 |
| 11 | 11 | Jason PLATO | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 11 | 1:42.681 | 0.559 |
| 12 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:42.729 | 0.607 |
| 13 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1:42.765 | 0.643 |
| 14 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 12 | 1:42.839 | 0.717 |
| 15 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 16 | 1:43.044 | 0.922 |
| 16 | 8 | Mark BLUNDELL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 19 | 1:43.184 | 1.062 |
| 17 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 1:43.336 | 1.214 |
| 18 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 14 | 1:43.403 | 1.281 |
| 19 | 9 | Rob COLLARD | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 1:43.413 | 1.291 |
| 20 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 14 | 1:43.454 | 1.332 |
| 21 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 14 | 1:43.495 | 1.373 |
| 22 | 41 | Carl BOARDLEY | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 1:43.507 | 1.385 |
| 23 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:43.812 | 1.690 |
| 24 | 44 | Michael CAINE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus RS | 7 | 1:43.920 | 1.798 |
| 25 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 5 | 1:44.103 | 1.981 |
| 26 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 11 | 1:44.224 | 2.102 |
| 27 | 37 | Rob SMITH | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 17 | 1:44.516 | 2.394 |
| 28 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | |
Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 13 | 1:44.859 | 2.737 |
| 29 | 777 | Michael CREES | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 6 | 1:44.917 | 2.795 |
| 30 | 4 | Sam OSBORNE | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 16 | 1:45.194 | 3.072 |