Josh Cook has taken the summer break in his stride turning up to Croft with an abundance of pace in his One Motorsport Honda.
Cook, through 12 laps, had set a time of 1:22.724 to only marginally take the top spot. Behind, completing a total of 17 laps, was Colin Turkington by the slightest of gaps at 0.030 seconds.
The Team BMW driver looking to burst out of the blocks after the summer break attempting to bridge the 35 point gap to championship leader Ash Sutton. Sutton was keen to continue his early season dominance keeping the pressure on at the top of the times. The NAPA Racing UK driver was 0.019 seconds shy of Turkington and 0.049 seconds behind Cook.
Sitting in fourth is another championship rival of Sutton’s in the form of MB Motorsports Jake Hill. After coming to the forefront at the last round at Oulton Park Hill was adamant the pace would still be there after the break. The gap was 0.528 seconds to Cook.
Bringing some positive pace into the weekend was Rory Butcher. The Toyota Gazoo Racing team had plenty of highs and lows so far in 2023 and top five pace shows some promising signs for the Speedworks outfit.
Dan Cammish was next in the order setting a time of a 1:23.383. Cammish, who is fighting his way back into the championship discussion, only missed out on the top five by 0.053 seconds.
Tom Chilton sat seventh in the order. The first of the EXCELR8 Hyundai cars after teammate Tom Ingram sat only 20th on the timesheet. Chilton’s pace was strong early on only getting beat by 0.008 seconds by Cammish leaving with a gap closer to the top than any teammate.
Árón Taylor-Smith put his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall in eight only narrowly beating Dan Lloyd in his Cupra. A theme already being set of some very tight gaps throughout the field with this gap being 0.007 seconds.
Rounding out the top 10 is the third of the NAPA Racing UK Fords in the form of Dan Rowbottom. The only Manufacturer to have three cars in the top 10 shows early signs the early season pace has not gone anywhere.
Session results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 66 |  |
Josh COOK | One Motorsport with Starline Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 12 | 1:22.724 | – |
| 2 | 4 | |
Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 17 | 1:22.754 | 0.030 |
| 3 | 116 | |
Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 12 | 1:22.773 | 0.049 |
| 4 | 24 | |
Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 15 | 1:23.252 | 0.528 |
| 5 | 6 | |
Rory BUTCHER | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 17 | 1:23.330 | 0.606 |
| 6 | 27 | |
Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 14 | 1:23.383 | 0.659 |
| 7 | 3 | |
Tom CHILTON | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 14 | 1:23.391 | 0.667 |
| 8 | 40 |  |
Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 1:23.489 | 0.765 |
| 9 | 123 | |
Daniel LLOYD | Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils | CUPRA Leon | 14 | 1:23.496 | 0.772 |
| 10 | 32 | |
Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 12 | 1:23.561 | 0.837 |
| 11 | 16 | |
Aiden MOFFAT | One Motorsport with Starline Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 12 | 1:23.587 | 0.863 |
| 12 | 12 | |
Stephen JELLEY | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 15 | 1:23.863 | 1.139 |
| 13 | 77 | |
Sam OSBORNE | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 1:23.956 | 1.232 |
| 14 | 11 | |
Andrew WATSON | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 14 | 1:23.963 | 1.239 |
| 15 | 33 | |
Adam MORGAN | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 14 | 1:24.039 | 1.315 |
| 16 | 14 | |
Ronan PEARSON | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 14 | 1:24.071 | 1.347 |
| 17 | 777 | |
Michael CREES | Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils | CUPRA Leon | 13 | 1:24.143 | 1.419 |
| 18 | 42 | |
George GAMBLE | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 16 | 1:24.215 | 1.491 |
| 19 | 17 | |
Dexter PATTERSON | Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD. | CUPRA Leon | 15 | 1:24.302 | 1.578 |
| 20 | 1 | |
Tom INGRAM | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 11 | 1:24.354 | 1.630 |
| 21 | 88 | |
Mikey DOBLE | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 16 | 1:24.772 | 2.048 |
| 22 | 96 | |
Jack BUTEL | Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown | CUPRA Leon | 17 | 1:25.034 | 2.310 |
| 23 | 22 | |
Nick HALSTEAD | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 13 | 1:25.209 | 2.485 |
| 24 | 99 | |
Jade EDWARDS | One Motorsport with Starline Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 9 | 1:26.922 | 4.198 |
| 25 | 37 | |
Ricky COLLARD | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 12 | 1:30.591 | 7.867 |