Jason Plato was the fastest man in the opening British Touring Car Championship practice session at Thruxton, despite crashing his Team BMR Volkswagen CC as the chequered flag fell.
Plato moved to the top of the times at the halfway stage with a 1:17.575s to head West Surrey Racing’s Andy Priaulx and Colin Turkington, but finished practice in less favourable circumstances having suffered a puncture which pitched him into the tyre barrier on the exit of the chicane after the end of the session.
Priaulx was just 0.068s behind the double-champion in second having previously led the way, with his team’s BMW 125i seemingly far better suited to the Hampshire circuit than Donington Park, while Plato’s team-mate Turkington slotted into third with fifteen minutes remaining.
Gordon Shedden and Adam Morgan completed the top five and were the final men to lap under the 1:18s barrier in their respective Honda Civic and Mercedes A-Class machines, with Rob Collard and Andrew Jordan in sixth and seventh.
Aron Smith and championship leader Matt Neal were next up, with Dave Newsham completing the top ten in his Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze, just 0.013s ahead of team-mate Josh Cook.
A year after his accident at Church, Simon Belcher was black flagged towards the end of the session for exceeding track limits, while Jeff Smith suffered the same fate minutes later.
Martin Donnelly finished 24th in his first practice session in the championship, registering 16 laps and a fastest time of 1:20.722s in his Infiniti Q50.
Top times
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 99 | Jason PLATO |  |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 22 | 1:17.575 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 111 | C | Andy PRIAULX | |
Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 21 | 1:17.643 | 0.068 |
| 3 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 21 | 1:17.759 | 0.184 | |
| 4 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 1:17.864 | 0.289 |
| 5 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 21 | 1:17.976 | 0.401 | |
| 6 | 6 | C | Rob COLLARD | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 21 | 1:18.182 | 0.607 |
| 7 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 20 | 1:18.194 | 0.619 |
| 8 | 40 | Árón SMITH |  |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 23 | 1:18.301 | 0.726 | |
| 9 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 22 | 1:18.568 | 0.993 |
| 10 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 18 | 1:18.619 | 1.044 | |
| 11 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 19 | 1:18.632 | 1.057 | |
| 12 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 18 | 1:18.708 | 1.133 | |
| 13 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 20 | 1:18.750 | 1.175 | |
| 14 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
AmD Tuning.com | Ford Focus | 20 | 1:18.814 | 1.239 | |
| 15 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 17 | 1:18.854 | 1.279 |