Photo: PSP Images

Last-gasp Tom Ingram fastest in opening practice at Croft

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Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram set a scintillating pace to head first practice at Croft by nearly 0.7 seconds, knocking West Surrey Racing’s Andy Priaulx off top spot as the chequered flag flew.

Priaulx had led the standings for the majority of the session, with Eurotech Racing’s Martin Depper running him impressively close in the final five minutes.

And while Ingram was down in 16th in his Toyota Avensis as the session entered its final minute, he crossed the line in time to do one more lap and made it count in style. His lap of 1.24.567 was 0.656 faster than Priaulx’s best effort.

Honda Racing Team’s Gordon Shedden was fourth ahead of Team BMR’s Aron Smith and Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan, with Colin Turkington, Jack Goff, Matt Neal and Jeff Smith completing the top 10.

Championship leader Jason Plato was hobbled by power steering issues and wound up 15th, while two new drivers made respectable starts on their BTCC bow.

AmD Tuning’s Nicolas Hamilton was 26th fastest in the Audi S3, 5.272 seconds off the pace, with Support Our Paras Racing’s Max Coates one place further back in 27th in the Infiniti Q50. He was 5.380 seconds away from Ingram’s time.

With the addition of Hamilton and Coates, the grid has swelled to 30 cars for the weekend. Of the field, only Tony Gilham Racing’s Kieran Gallagher didn’t set a serious laptime and was around 30 seconds off the pace in last place.

The second free practice session at Croft gets underway at 12:00 BST.