BTC Racing’s Josh Cook topped the second British Touring Car Championship practice session at Oulton Park by virtue of a late improvement.
After a dry-to-wet first practice this morning, the drivers enjoyed a far more representative session in second practice as blue skies graced the Cheshire circuit.
The session ran uninterrupted until the final 15 minutes when Ash Sutton’s Infiniti Q50 ran straight on at Lodge Corner, prompting a brief red flag interruption.
He was able to get back to the pits and back out on track when the session resumed with just under ten minutes remaining after his Laser Tools Racing squad had cleared the gravel from his Infiniti.
The times then tumbled in the dying minutes of the session as first Dan Cammish and then Cook knocked Motorbase Performance’s Rory Butcher off the top spot that he had occupied since the restart.
On his final flying lap of the session, Cook set a 1:26.248 to edge out fellow FK8 Honda Civic runner Cammish by nearly a tenth-and-a-half.
Then it was Butcher’s new-for-2020 Ford Focus ST two tenths off Cook’s session-topping time ahead of his former team-mate Chris Smiley in the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 Fastback N.
Practice one pacesetter Mike Bushell was fifth, clearly enjoying a strong start to his return to the series with Power Maxed Racing in the Vauxhall Astra.
Reigning champion Colin Turkington placed sixth in his WSR-run BMW 330i M Sport, ahead of Adam Morgan, who enjoyed flashes of pace in his Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes-Benz A-Class.
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s Tom Ingram was eighth in the Speedworks-run Toyota Corolla, ahead of Turkington’s team-mate Tom Oliphant with Matt Neal behind rounding out the top ten runners, who were separated by just over half a second.
Jack Goff enjoyed another strong session in the Team HARD Volkswagen CC in 11th, while MB Motorsport team-mates Jake Hill and Sam Osborne placed 12th and 13th respectively.
Excelr8 Motorsport’s Senna Proctor was 14th in the second of the Hyundais, while Tom Chilton completed the top fifteen.
Championship contender Sutton could only manage 19th in the session after his off-track excursion.
Qualifying is up next at Oulton Park, with the half-hour session scheduled to get underway in Cheshire at 15:25 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 66 | Josh COOK |  |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 16 | 1:26.248 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 16 | 1:26.388 | 0.140 |
| 3 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 14 | 1:26.451 | 0.203 |
| 4 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 17 | 1:26.513 | 0.265 |
| 5 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Power Maxed Car Care Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 16 | 1:26.688 | 0.440 |
| 6 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 17 | 1:26.728 | 0.480 |
| 7 | 32 | Adam MORGAN | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 1:26.743 | 0.495 |
| 8 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 16 | 1:26.761 | 0.513 |
| 9 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 18 | 1:26.762 | 0.514 |
| 10 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 15 | 1:26.781 | 0.533 |
| 11 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 1:26.820 | 0.572 |
| 12 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 13 | 1:26.959 | 0.711 |
| 13 | 4 | Sam OSBORNE | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 15 | 1:27.022 | 0.774 |
| 14 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 13 | 1:27.213 | 0.965 |
| 15 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 15 | 1:27.256 | 1.008 |
| 16 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 17 | 1:27.260 | 1.012 |
| 17 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 1:27.437 | 1.189 |
| 18 | 180 | James GORNALL | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 10 | 1:27.457 | 1.209 |
| 19 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 13 | 1:27.472 | 1.224 |
| 20 | 12 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 17 | 1:27.612 | 1.364 |
| 21 | 777 | Michael CREES | |
The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 15 | 1:27.924 | 1.676 |
| 22 | 44 | Andy NEATE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 1:28.068 | 1.820 |
| 23 | 34 | Ollie BROWN | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 1:28.120 | 1.872 |
| 24 | 41 | Carl BOARDLEY | |
Team HARD. | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:28.219 | 1.971 |
| 25 | 32 | Jack BUTEL | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 13 | 1:28.640 | 2.392 |
| 26 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 13 | 1:28.744 | 2.496 |
| 27 | 28 | Nicolas HAMILTON | |
ROKiT Racing with Team HARD. | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 1:30.089 | 3.841 |