Tom Ingram fastest in topsy turvy first practice at Rockingham

Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram headed a topsy turvy first practice session at Rockingham, with a flurry of fast times being set near the end of the session as the circuit dried out.

Ingram jumped to the top of the times no fewer than five times during the 40 minutes as he battled for supremacy with Power Maxed Racing’s Josh Cook and AmD Tuning’s Mike Bushell, with his best time of 1.24.157 securing P1 in the final minutes.

Cook’s team-mate Dave Newsham jumped up to second as the chequered flag flew, with the Clio Cup vice-champion third ahead of Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan and Team BMR’s Aron Smith.

Reigning champion Colin Turkington, Rob Collard, Hunter Abbott, Sam Tordoff and Bushell completed the top 10, with the returning Nick Foster 15th for West Surrey Racing as he sits in for Andy Priaulx this weekend.

At the tail of the field, neither championship leader Jason Plato nor Triple Eight Racing’s Andrew Jordan set a timed lap.

Very little meaningful running tool place in the early stages as the cars tiptoed around on a greasy and drying track, with a brief spin for Aiden Moffat at the final chicane the only action of note.

Honda Yuasa Racing’s Matt Neal led the way on a 1.34.700 for much of the session, but with the sun starting to break through the clouds, there were a flurry of improved times in the final 15 minutes.

Smith was the first man to top Neal before he was knocked off the top by Cook. Ingram and Bushell then swapped twice at the top, before Stewart Lines crawled to a halt along the pit straight with a broken gearbox.

Cook and Ingram continued their battle before the former Ginetta Supercup champion made his decisive move, setting a time less than two seconds off the qualifying lap record.