Jason Plato fastest in split opening Donington Park practice
Jason Plato topped the time sheets in FP1 at a sunny Donington Park in his Team BMR Volkswagen CC.
The first ten minutes of the session was dominated by Sam Tordoff in the West Surrey Racing BMW, consistently lapping faster than his rivals.
Brands Hatch FP1 pacesetter Tom Ingram then joined the party as the Toyota Avensis driver began swapping fastest times with Tordoff each lap. The two diced at the top, bringing the lap times down to the 1:11 area, before Andrew Jordan in the MG posted the first 70 second lap of the day.
Jordan then continued to improve, shaving over half a second off his best over the next ten minutes before an incident at the chicane involving Jack Goff and Hunter Abbott which left Abbott’s Audi A4 stranded in the gravel and requiring recovery, resulting in the session being red flagged.
Following the red flag, times began to tumble as Jason Plato took the Team BMR Volkswagen CC to the top with a 1:10.224 before taking the first sub 70 second lap with a 1:09.665, the only driver to do so in the session.
It was a good session for Team BMR, with Colin Turkington and Aron Smith both making it in to the top five, while the three West Surrey Racing BMWs struggled to break the top ten.
The Hondas of Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal showed stronger pace in the latter stages, with Shedden taking the second quickest time of the session, while Neal had to settle for twelfth following the red flag.
The two Chevrolet Cruzes of Josh Cook and Dave Newsham also enjoyed a good showing, with the pair both breaking in to the top ten, taking ninth and tenth respectively.
There was no sign of Dan Welch or Stewart Lines in the opening session, with the latter reporting a fueling issue forcing him to sit out.
