Gordon Shedden on top in opening session at Knockhill

Gordon Shedden topped the times for Team Dynamics in a wet but drying opening free practice session of the weekend at Knockhill, ahead of the annual Scottish round of the BTCC season.

Rain as the session started meant the first track action of the race weekend kicked of with the field on wet tyres, with Colin Turkington leading the way in the early stages in his BMW – running much lighter than usual after a tough run of form for the WSR driver saw him slip down to ninth in the championship standings.

The Northern Irishman would set the first sub 56s lap of the session before Josh Cook briefly led the way, with home hero Gordon Shedden then moving into P1 shortly before the action was halted after Jade Edwards slid off the road at the Chicane.

The session resumed with 14 minutes left on the clock and a dry line appearing but Shedden’s time from before the stoppage would prove to be the one to beat as the clock ticked down.

The Honda would end up just 0.025s clear of Chris Smiley’s Hyundai, with Turkington ending up third best having slipped down the order before improving after the red flag – ending up little more than a quarter of a second off the pace.

Aiden Moffat and Tom OIiphant – both running without extra ballast onboard – followed close behind with the Ford Focus of Jake Hill slotting into sixth spot from Senna Proctor and championship leader Ash Sutton.

Sutton’s main rival in the points, Tom Ingram, would end up with the 23rd best time, despite his fastest lap being little over a second off the pace.

The session wouldn’t pass without issues for another local driver Rory Butcher, with an issue with an alternator cable affecting the power steering on his car – which resulted in him being forced to spend an extended period in the pits.

With the sun now shining, teams will hope for improved conditions for FP2 at 12:05 and then qualifying later this afternoon.