Andrew Jordan set the pace during the first free practice ahead of this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship triple-header at Rockingham, with a fastest lap time of 1:23.045 among three red-flag stoppages.
Rising stars Tom Ingram and Adam Morgan completed the top three on the timesheets, the former finding his feet later in the session to post a time just 0.059 adrift of the Pirtek Racing Ford Focus, whilst Morgan was the earlier pace-setter in the session.
It was another young protegee, Jake Hill, who brought out the red flags first when his Toyota Avensis stopped on the approach to Tarzan hairpin, and with Tony Gilham and Michael Epps both also requiring mechanical repairs across the forty minutes it proved to be a character-building session for Team.HARD.
The second stoppage was arguably the most high profile, as championship leader Sam Tordoff lost control of his BMW 125i M-Sport at the same location and spun backwards into the gravel trap. Though he managed to make it back to the pit lane under his own steam after marshal assistance, he was absent for the remainder of the session. Michael Epps completed the stoppages with a spin in the closing stages.
Tordoff’s closest championship challengers spent most of the session absent from the timesheets, before emerging late on to lockout the midfield and lower top ten. With front-wheel drive cars such as the Honda tipped to struggle around Rockingham, Matt Neal could only manage 10th, and his team-mate, defending champion Gordon Shedden, just 6th.
After a turbulent week for Silverline Subaru BMR Racing, Colin Turkington was their standout performer with 8th; double champion Jason Plato sat slightly further back in 11th.
More to follow….
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN |  |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 9 | 1:23.045 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 14 | 1:23.104 | 0.059 | |
| 3 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 1:23.173 | 0.128 | |
| 4 | 66 | M | Josh COOK | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 13 | 1:23.229 | 0.184 |
| 5 | 7 | Mat JACKSON | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 13 | 1:23.460 | 0.415 | |
| 6 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 12 | 1:23.529 | 0.484 |
| 7 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 14 | 1:23.532 | 0.487 |
| 8 | 4 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 12 | 1:23.722 | 0.677 |
| 9 | 40 | Árón SMITH |  |
BKR | Volkswagen CC | 13 | 1:23.862 | 0.817 | |
| 10 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 12 | 1:23.865 | 0.820 |
| 11 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 12 | 1:23.938 | 0.893 |
| 12 | 71 | David NEWSHAM | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 13 | 1:23.970 | 0.925 | |
| 13 | 20 | M | James COLE | |
Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 12 | 1:24.063 | 1.018 |
| 14 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:24.274 | 1.229 | |
| 15 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 11 | 1:24.294 | 1.249 | |
| 16 | 31 | C | Jack GOFF | |
Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 14 | 1:24.304 | 1.259 |
| 17 | 53 | Hunter ABBOTT | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 14 | 1:24.307 | 1.262 | |
| 18 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 1:24.313 | 1.268 | |
| 19 | 100 | C | Rob COLLARD | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 12 | 1:24.389 | 1.344 |
| 20 | 39 | M | Warren SCOTT | |
Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 13 | 1:24.486 | 1.441 |
| 21 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 13 | 1:24.490 | 1.445 | |
| 22 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD Tuning | Audi S3 | 13 | 1:24.549 | 1.504 | |
| 23 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 13 | 1:24.612 | 1.567 | |
| 24 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | 10 | 1:24.689 | 1.644 | |
| 25 | 17 | Dan WELCH | |
Goodestone Racing | Proton Persona | 13 | 1:24.716 | 1.671 | |
| 26 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | 10 | 1:24.923 | 1.878 | |
| 27 | 14 | Alex MARTIN | |
Dextra Racing with Team Parker | Ford Focus | 12 | 1:24.973 | 1.928 | |
| 28 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 11 | 1:25.570 | 2.525 | |
| 29 | 38 | Mark HOWARD | |
BKR | Volkswagen CC | 13 | 1:25.682 | 2.637 | |
| 30 | 600 | C | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 4 | 1:31.935 | 8.890 |
| 31 | 34 | Tony GILHAM | |
TLC Racing | Toyota Avensis | 1 | No time | N/A |