Outgoing champion Ash Sutton tops first Brands Hatch practice
Outgoing champion Ash Sutton headed the first free practice session of the British Touring Car Championship finals weekend at Brands Hatch, despite having his running curtailed by an oil leak.
Team BMR’s Sutton set a best time of 1.31.090 on his second of just two flying laps, before parking his Subaru Levorg in the garage.
Sutton pipped West Surrey Racing’s Andrew Jordan by 0.126 seconds, a best time just 0.4 seconds away from Mat Jackson’s qualifying record from 2015.
Behind Eurotech Racing’s Jack Goff in third was championship outsider Tom Chilton in his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST, just ahead of Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan, with title challenger Tom Ingram posting the sixth best time in his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis.
The Team Dynamics pair of Matt Neal and Dan Cammish, BTC Racing’s Chris Smiley and Team Hard’s Mike Bushell rounded out the top 10, while championship leader Colin Turkington had a steady first session in his BMW 125i. The West Surrey Racing man was down in 15th, just under 0.6 seconds away from the fastest time.
It was a largely uneventful session under bright blue skies in Kent, with the only incident of note a red flag after 15 minutes, caused by Team Hard’s Ollie Pidgley parking his Volkswagen CC at Dingle Dell.
The second free practice session takes place at 12:05 BST, with the crucial qualifying session at 15:20 BST.
