Photo: PSP Images

Ollie Taylor tops Castle Combe test

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Ollie Taylor headed the time sheets as the the TCR UK Championship field hit the track for Friday testing ahead of the fourth round of the year at Castle Combe.

Currently second in the championship standings after six races, Taylor posted a best time of 1m 06.882s at the wheel of his Pyro Motorsport-run Honda Civic Type-R TCR to head championship leader Dan Lloyd by nearly half a second.

The pair ran at different times during the split one hour session, with Lloyd quickest in the opening half an hour before Taylor then posted the quickest time of all in the second half hour.

Lewis Kent was third quickest at the wheel of the sole Hyundai i30 entered this weekend after expansion plans failed to come together for his Essex & Kent Motorsport team, with Andreas Bäckman taking fourth in the second of the WestCoast Racing-run Volkwagens.

The Cupra of Carl Swift edged out Jessica Bäckman’s Volkwagen for fifth, with Darelle Wilson in the sole Vauxhall Astra being the final driver to set a time – albeit a further 1.1s off the pace.

The DPE Motorsport Alfa Romeos of Derek Palmer and Robert Gilmour as well as Stewart Lines’ Cupra ran without working transponders, meaning they failed to log any laptimes.

The Honda of Finlay Crocker meanwhile was a late arrival at the circuit and didn’t take part in the session.