Jake Hill set the opening benchmark as the MB Motorsport driver set a 57.622 to put himself top of the timesheet in FP1.
Hill, who sits third in the standings, has started his weekend in the best way he can putting everything out there from the off. Setting 20 laps, the BMW came across zero issues putting a 0.273 second gap between himself and the rest of the field.
Sitting in second was Ronan Pearson after the announcement he would be remaining with the EXCELR8 team for the next two seasons. The Hyundai setting the most laps in the top 10 with 26 laps to his name.
In third and fourth was a pair of Power Maxed Astra’s with Árón Taylor-Smith being the former. The Irishman continues with his purple patch of form only missing out on the top two by 0.028 seconds.
In fourth was Mikey Doble who was very close to out-pacing his teammate. After just trailing a top three position by 0.011 seconds the Power Maxed team look strong with two cars in the top four.
Colin Turkington was the second of the BMW’s but the lead Team BMW car. Apart from Hill, the field were all within one tenth of each other down to 16th. This left Turkington 0.104 seconds from second place.
Championship leader Ash Sutton had a settled start to the penultimate weekend of the season. Continually finishing the session ahead of nearest rival Tom Ingram could see the NAPA Racing UK car win the championship this weekend. If he leaves with a 67 point gap he will take home the championship currently holding a 42 point lead.
Ricky Collard was the first of the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK cars placing his Corolla in seventh place. Setting 25 laps it was only the finest of margins finishing 0.008 seconds away from bumping up a position.
Adam Morgan made it three BMW’s inside the top 10. The gap between second to 10th was tighter than Hill to Pearson. Setting a 58.072 Morgan was only 0.022 seconds behind Collard.
Tom Ingram was in ninth and had recorded the least amount of laps of any driver inside the top 10. Tight margins mean big gains so a promising weekend is not out of the question after one session.
Rounding out the top 10 was Rory Butcher making it two Toyota Gazoo Racing UK cars inside the the top 10. Despite being 0.540 seconds off of Hill, Butcher ended the session only 0.267 seconds off of Pearson.
Session Results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 24 |  |
Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 20 | 0:57.622 | – |
| 2 | 14 | |
Ronan PEARSON | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 26 | 0:57.895 | 0.273 |
| 3 | 40 |  |
Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 17 | 0:57.923 | 0.301 |
| 4 | 88 | |
Mikey DOBLE | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 23 | 0:57.934 | 0.312 |
| 5 | 4 | |
Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 22 | 0:57.999 | 0.377 |
| 6 | 116 | |
Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 22 | 0:58.042 | 0.420 |
| 7 | 37 | |
Ricky COLLARD | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 25 | 0:58.050 | 0.428 |
| 8 | 33 | |
Adam MORGAN | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 22 | 0:58.072 | 0.450 |
| 9 | 1 | |
Tom INGRAM | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 15 | 0:58.125 | 0.503 |
| 10 | 6 | |
Rory BUTCHER | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 23 | 0:58.162 | 0.540 |
| 11 | 66 | |
Josh COOK | One Motorsport with Starline Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 19 | 0:58.170 | 0.548 |
| 12 | 3 | |
Tom CHILTON | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 17 | 0:58.175 | 0.553 |
| 13 | 11 | |
Andrew WATSON | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 21 | 0:58.181 | 0.559 |
| 14 | 27 | |
Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 0:58.208 | 0.586 |
| 15 | 32 | |
Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 20 | 0:58.233 | 0.611 |
| 16 | 12 | |
Stephen JELLEY | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 25 | 0:58.402 | 0.780 |
| 17 | 123 | |
Daniel LLOYD | Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils | CUPRA Leon | 22 | 0:58.431 | 0.809 |
| 18 | 42 | |
George GAMBLE | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 13 | 0:58.470 | 0.848 |
| 19 | 77 | |
Sam OSBORNE | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 19 | 0:58.482 | 0.860 |
| 20 | 19 | |
Bobby THOMPSON | Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils | CUPRA Leon | 19 | 0:58.594 | 0.972 |
| 21 | 17 | |
Dexter PATTERSON | Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD. | CUPRA Leon | 23 | 0:58.645 | 1.023 |
| 22 | 99 | |
Jade EDWARDS | One Motorsport with Starline Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 15 | 0:58.808 | 1.186 |
| 23 | 16 | |
Aiden MOFFAT | One Motorsport with Starline Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 17 | 0:58.860 | 1.238 |
| 24 | 777 | |
Michael CREES | Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils | CUPRA Leon | 23 | 0:58.918 | 1.296 |
| 25 | 18 |  |
Daryl DELEON | Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD. | CUPRA Leon | 27 | 0:58.994 | 1.372 |
| 26 | 96 | |
Jack BUTEL | Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown | CUPRA Leon | 24 | 0:59.057 | 1.435 |
| 27 | 22 | |
Nick HALSTEAD | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 23 | 0:59.389 | 1.767 |