Adam Morgan fastest in first practice at Brands Hatch
Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan topped the first free practice session of the final weekend of the season at Brands Hatch, pipping title contender Jason Plato by 0.169s.
After a red flag stoppage to retrieve the AmD Tuning Audi S3 of series returnee Jake Hill, Morgan moved to the top of the times with nine minutes to go and improved again on his following lap, winding up just 0.214 shy of the lap record set by Team BMR’s Plato in his MG days in 2013.
Motorbase Performance’s Mat Jackson continued his strong recent form in third, 0.318s off the pace, with fellow title contender Colin Turkington in fourth. Triple Eight Racing’s Jack Goff was fifth ahead of West Surrey Racing’s Andy Priaulx, with the Honda Yuasa Racing pair of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden next up.
Rounding out the top 10 behind championship leader Shedden were Goff’s team-mate and title outsider Andrew Jordan, and Power Maxed Racing’s Dave Newsham. Newsham’s team-mate Josh Cook, who is running new uprights and power steering from the RML 2016 parts package, finished in 13th position.
Plato headed the session early on with a 1.32.168 and remained there until Hill spun into the barriers on the exit of Graham Hill Bend, causing a stoppage of around 10 minutes. Hill sat out the rest of the session, as did Handy Motorsport’s Simon Belcher after spinning his Toyota Avensis into the gravel.
Alain Menu didn’t complete a lap due to mechanical issues with his Team BMR Volkswagen CC, with Support Our Paras Racing’s Derek Palmer also not setting a time due to issues with the brake master cylinder. Rounding out the bottom of the field, Welch Motorsport’s Dan Welch didn’t leave the garage in his Proton Gen-2.
Pacesetter Morgan also didn’t take the chequered flag as he stopped on track with an electrical issue.
