Honda lead the way in first practice

Honda topped the opening practice session of the Oulton Park weekend, with Gordon Shedden heading home Championship leader Matt Neal.

Shedden recorded a best time of 1:27.588 from his 23 laps, 0.386 ahead of teammate Neal, as the two Honda Civics were the only cars to dip under the 1:28 mark.

The Scotsman enjoyed a 36 kilogramme ballast advantage over his second placed colleague, setting the fastest time of the session on lap eight in the 40 minute session.

Taking third and fourth were the two Chevrolet Cruzes, with Jason Plato trailing Shedden by 0.887 in third, 0.026 ahead of Alex MacDowall in fourth.

Fifth was Andrew Jordan, ahead of Rob Collard and second place in the Championship standings man Mat Jackson, who ended the session seventh.

Tom Chilton, James Nash and Andy Neate rounded out the top ten, in an undramatic session that saw the Oulton Park weekend begin in bright, warm conditions and with a lack of major incidents during the first Free Practice session.

On his first competitive outing in the SEAT Leon, Dave Newsham took 13th, 0.238 behind new teammate Tom Boardman who was 11th, with Paul O’Neill’s Chevrolet sandwiched between the two Spanish machines.

On his return to the BTCC Lea Wood took 21st, ahead of both of the Toyota Avensis’ of Frank Wrathall and Tony Hughes, with Chris James the only car to lap slower than the two NGTC machines, just over five seconds off the pace of Shedden’s Honda.

The next Free Practice session is at 12.45 GMT.