Colin Turkington set the fastest time in opening practice ahead of this weekend’s final three races of the 2014 British Touring Car Championship season at Brands Hatch, ahead of championship rival Jason Plato and the second MG of Sam Tordoff.
Points leader Turkington’s pace would no doubt have settled some of the nerves he would have had coming into the weekend, with 18 points still required for him to secure a second series crown.
He and Plato, his sole remaining championship contender, traded fastest laps throughout much of the session – a pattern that the growing crowds will hope is continued throughout the weekend – with the eBay Motors driver eventually claiming the fastest time as the session was stopped two minutes early after a red flag was shown at Druids.
The session started in damp conditions after overnight rain paid the circuit a visit, and as such there was a different start to the session as a number of drivers stayed on circuit for more than their initial installation laps, in a bid to get to grips with the conditions that may well be present across the two days.
Of those who stayed out, the Honda pairing of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden were the first set competitive times, with the former setting the initial pace on a 1:47.541s.
Plato was one of the few who did pit at the end of his first lap, but rejoined the circuit shortly afterwards and immediately went fastest by 0.951s on a 1.45.118s from those who had stayed on track since the beginning of the session.
Teammate Tordoff was the first man to get close to the double champion, momentarily moving to within half-a-tenth of Plato before the championship contender edged his lead slightly further again with an improved effort of 1:45.038s. He then became the first man to dip under the 1:45s barrier, on a 1:44.550s.
Turkington had until that point made quiet progress up the order, having hovered around third and fourth for much of the session, but at the halfway point he made his intentions for the weekend clear as moved into second with a time of 1:44.937s.
Adam Morgan then made a trip into the gravel at Druids, one of the wetter parts of the circuit, which took the attention away from the times – allowing Turkington to assume top spot under the radar as he posted a 1:44.285s. Plato was also on track at that point, but was unable to immediately usurp his rival as he slotted into second.
The pair did trade fastest times once more, but Turkington eventually sealed top spot with an effort of 1:44.007s with seven minutes of the session remaining, before the appearance of the red flag.
With Tordoff keeping a watching brief in third, 0.801s off the pace, there were signs of the return to form that the Hondas had anticipated, as Andrew Jordan finished the session in fourth ahead of Shedden, while Neal wound up in eighth. He was split from his teammate by Mat Jackson and an impressive Jack Goff, who scored his maiden series podium at the circuit last year.
With a far greater field spread than last time out at Silverstone (where the top 23 were covered by a second in qualifying, compared to the top six in this session), Dave Newsham enjoyed an encouraging run to ninth in his AmD Tuning Ford Focus, ahead of Swiss Alain Menu.
James Cole was unable to complete a lap as his United Autosports team continued to add the finishing touches to his Toyota Avensis after its rebuild, with Aiden Moffat the slowest of the 29 cars to have set a time following Rotek Racing’s withdrawal from the event.
Second practice is scheduled to start at 12:40 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 5 | I | Colin TURKINGTON |  |
eBay Motors | BMW 125i M Sport | 14 | 1:44.007 | |
| 2 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save | MG6 | 14 | 1:44.220 | 0.213 |
| 3 | 88 | M | Sam TORDOFF | |
MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save | MG6 | 15 | 1:44.808 | 0.801 |
| 4 | 1 | I | Andrew JORDAN | |
Pirtek Racing | Honda Civic | 16 | 1:44.813 | 0.806 |
| 5 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Tourer | 16 | 1:44.827 | 0.820 |
| 6 | 6 | I | Mat JACKSON | |
Airwaves Racing | Ford Focus ST | 14 | 1:44.970 | 0.963 |
| 7 | 31 | I | Jack GOFF | |
CHROME Edition Restart Racing | Volkswagen CC | 13 | 1:45.094 | 1.087 |
| 8 | 4 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Tourer | 15 | 1:45.129 | 1.122 |
| 9 | 17 | I | Dave NEWSHAM | |
AmD Tuning.com | Ford Focus ST | 16 | 1:45.229 | 1.222 |
| 10 | 9 | I | Alain MENU |  |
CHROME Edition Restart Racing | Volkswagen CC | 12 | 1:45.245 | 1.238 |