Ash Sutton continued to top the times in free practice for the TCR UK series at Oulton Park, with the Pyro Motorsport driver more than half a second clear of team-mate Ollie Taylor in second.
Sutton was quickest on his first run, initially with a lap of 1:44.249 around the Oulton Park International circuit, before improving to 1:42.826 just after the half-way stage.
The reigning BTCC champion was an impressive half second clear of regular Honda Civic Type R driver Taylor, who improved inside the last ten minutes but could not match Sutton’s pace.
Points leader Dan Lloyd was third and the best of the Volkswagens, laden with 60 kg of compensation weight, with the WestCoast Racing driver the only other racer within a second of the pace.
Lloyd’s team-mate, Swede Andreas Bäckman, was fourth, ahead of the leading DPE Motorsport Alfa Romeo of Derek Palmer in fifth.
Jessica Bäckman put her Volkswagen in sixth, whilst Maximum Motorsport’s Stewart Lines was the best-placed CUPRA driver in seventh.
Having failed to start a TCR race, despite this being his third event, Robert Gilmour put his Alfa Romeo in eighth, just under two and a half seconds shy of the pace.
Lewis Kent was ninth, with the Hyundai driver being the cause of a ten-minute red flag stoppage after 20 minutes when the front-left wheel of his car became detached exiting Druids corner. It is the second time in as many meetings that the Essex & Kent Motorsport driver has faced issue with the front-left wheel, after troubles at Castle Combe.
Carl Swift’s CUPRA and Tim Docker’s Volkswagen completed the times in tenth and 11th respectively, the latter having completed just five laps.
Qualifying takes place at 11:00 BST, followed by race one at 13:55 BST and race two at 16:25 BST. All sessions will be streamed live on YouTube.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 88 | Ashley SUTTON |  |
Verizon Connect Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 8 | 1:42.826 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 32 | Oliver TAYLOR | |
Pyro Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 10 | 1:43.399 | 0.573 |
| 3 | 23 | Dan LLOYD | |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 7 | 1:43.526 | 0.700 |
| 4 | 19 | Andreas BÄCKMAN |  |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 1:44.013 | 1.187 |
| 5 | 61 | Derek PALMER | |
DPE Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 1:44.442 | 1.616 |
| 6 | 26 | Jessica BÄCKMAN | |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 1:44.601 | 1.775 |
| 7 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Maximum Motorsport | CUPRA TCR V3 DSG | 15 | 1:45.220 | 2.394 |
| 8 | 76 | Robert GILMOUR | |
DPE Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 10 | 1:45.291 | 2.465 |
| 9 | 38 | Lewis KENT | |
Essex & Kent Motorsport | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 7 | 1:45.371 | 2.545 |
| 10 | 45 | Carl SWIFT | |
Endurance Financial Racing | CUPRA TCR V3 DSG | 4 | 1:46.162 | 3.336 |
| 11 | 27 | Tim DOCKER | |
Maximum Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 5 | 1:54.363 | 11.537 |