Chris Smiley tops changeable second practice at Donington Park

Chris Smiley topped the times for BTC Racing in second free practice at Donington Park, with plenty of question marks remaining about the relative pace of the field going into qualifying for the second meeting of the BTCC season.

Changeable circuit conditions amidst ongoing drizzle meant a number of drivers didn’t set representative lap times, with the likes of Andrew Jordan, Colin Turkington, Tom Ingram and Sam Tordoff all setting laps that were more than six seconds off the pace as some drivers went for slick-shod runs late on.

Smiley emerged as the best of those drivers with a lap of 1:12.622 in his Honda Civic Type R allowing him to beat the Mercedes of Adam Morgan to top spot, with Rory Butcher slotting into third in his older FK2 Honda.

Butcher had spent much of the session out front and at times was more than two seconds quicker than anyone else having been the first man to put in a quick lap on slicks.

Team HARD pairing Jack Goff and Bobby Thompson were the only other drivers to lap within a second of the pace as they took fourth and fifth, with the Vauxhall Astra of Rob Collard rounding out the top six.

Points leader Josh Cook was seventh in the second of the BTC Racing-run Hondas with Michael Crees the best of the rookies in eighth. Ash Sutton and Carl Boardley completed the top ten.