Mat Jackson fastest in FP1 at Donington

Mat Jackson finished on top the timesheets for Motorbase Performance after an interrupted first free practice session at Donington Park, setting a fastest time of 1:11.465.

The session was interrupted by a red flag for the recovery of Rob Collard’s West Surrey Racing BMW. It was not the only drama for the team during the session with the BMWs of Collard’s team mates Tom Onslow-Cole and Nick Foster in the garage shortly after the session had begun. At the end of FP1 Foster had yet to set a time, with Collard finishing in 12th and Onslow-Cole in 19th.

Fastest finisher Mat Jackson was an early leader in the session ahead of the NGTC Honda Civics. Honda Yuasa Racing’s Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden finished the session in third and fourth respectively. They were bested by the NGTC Civic of Eurotech Racing’s Andrew Jordan who finished second fastest.

After a drama filled start to his 2012 BTCC campaign with Motorbase Performance at Brands Hatch, Aron Smith put in a strong performance in the opening practice session to finish in fifth. Behind him was one of the session’s early leaders, Jason Plato, who finished sixth fastest for Triple Eight Race Engineering

The S2000 Civic of Tony Gilham had to be recovered after an off in the latter half of the session.

The second practice session is due to take place at 12:30 UK time.