MB Motorsport’s Jake Hill led the way in the singular free practice session ahead of qualifying for the British Touring Car Championship season finale at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
The Kent racer enjoyed a strong session on home soil at the twisty 1.2-mile Indy layout, setting a time of 54.678 just before the halfway mark in the hour-long practice session, leading championship protagonist Ash Sutton by 0.225s.
The 2017 champion racked up a total of 45 laps in his Infiniti Q50, gradually edging closer to Hill’s time in a session that saw no interruptions despite intermittent rainfall that resulted in changeable grip levels.
Sutton led 2019 runner-up Dan Cammish who was just over a tenth-of-a-second further back, while his Laser Tools Racing team-mate Aiden Moffat enjoyed a strong showing in fourth position in the second Infiniti.
Completing the top five runners was Tom Ingram – who had set the early pace in the session before Hill’s improvement – but would end up nearly four tenths adrift of the pace-setting time in his Toyota Corolla come the end of the session.
Motorbase Performance’s Rory Butcher ensured four of the top five drivers in the championship placed inside the top six, with only championship leader Colin Turkington the anomaly ending up in 14th position in his BMW 330i M Sport.
Butcher led his team-mate Ollie Jackson in a strong session for Motorbase at their local circuit, while Chris Smiley was the quickest of the Exlcer8 Motorsport Hyundais in eighth position.
BTC Racing’s Josh Cook managed ninth position despite an off-track excursion in his FK8 Honda Civic Type R, while Senna Proctor rounded out the top ten in the second of the Hyundai i30 Fastback N entries.
Team BMW’s Tom Oliphant was next ahead of Tom Chilton in 12th position, while Adam Morgan placed 13th ahead of Turkington in the swansong weekend for Ciceley Motorsport’s venerable Mercedes-Benz A-Class, while triple champion Matt Neal was 15th in his Team Dynamics-run Honda Civic Type R.
Qualifying for the season finale of the 2020 British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch is set to get underway at 12:35 BST.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 24 | Jake HILL |  |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 33 | 54.678 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 116 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 45 | 54.903 | 0.225 |
| 3 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 39 | 55.008 | 0.330 |
| 4 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 50 | 55.054 | 0.376 |
| 5 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 30 | 55.071 | 0.393 |
| 6 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 30 | 55.193 | 0.515 |
| 7 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 38 | 55.288 | 0.610 |
| 8 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 36 | 55.431 | 0.753 |
| 9 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 26 | 55.702 | 1.024 |
| 10 | 18 | Senna PROCTOR | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 35 | 55.717 | 1.039 |
| 11 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 32 | 55.726 | 1.048 |
| 12 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 39 | 55.756 | 1.078 |
| 13 | 32 | Adam MORGAN | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 35 | 55.789 | 1.111 |
| 14 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 42 | 55.803 | 1.125 |
| 15 | 25 | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 31 | 55.880 | 1.202 |
| 16 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 33 | 55.885 | 1.207 |
| 17 | 777 | Michael CREES | |
The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 37 | 56.130 | 1.452 |
| 18 | 12 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 42 | 56.208 | 1.530 |
| 19 | 44 | Andy NEATE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 48 | 56.319 | 1.641 |
| 20 | 88 | Glynn GEDDIE | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 44 | 56.369 | 1.691 |
| 21 | 28 | Nicolas HAMILTON | |
ROKiT Racing with Team HARD. | Volkswagen CC | 44 | 56.380 | 1.702 |
| 22 | 4 | Sam OSBORNE | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 41 | 56.516 | 1.838 |
| 23 | 41 | Carl BOARDLEY | |
Team HARD. | BMW 125i M Sport | 38 | 56.734 | 2.056 |
| 24 | 222 | Paul RIVETT | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 43 | 56.888 | 2.210 |
| 25 | 49 | Brad PHILPOT | |
Power Maxed Car Care Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 50 | 57.036 | 2.358 |
| 26 | 32 | Jack BUTEL | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 43 | 57.167 | 2.489 |
| 27 | 23 | Ethan HAMMERTON | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 40 | 57.307 | 2.629 |