Ash Sutton heads opening practice at Knockhill

Subaru BMR driver Ash Sutton headed the times as the BTCC field hit the track for the first time this season at Knockhill for the opening practice session of the weekend.

With the circuit having undergone extensive resurfacing work over the winter, times would prove to be quick from the outset, with Colin Turkington’s lap record being beaten within a matter of laps once the session got underway proper, the initial early running having counted for little when Matt Simpson stuck his Honda Civic Type R in the gravel at McIntyres to bring out the red flag before a competitive lap had been put on the board.

Once Simpson had recovered to the pits, the quick laps would soon start to emerge and Turkington’s record would be bettered within ten minutes – with the top 19 drivers going under the mark by the end of the session.

Sutton would leave it leave it late to make his move however, with his quickest lap of 51.293s coming on his 26th and final lap of the session to give Team BMR the early bragging rights, with the defending champion edging out Jack Goff at the top of the times – the Eurotech driver keen to bounce back to form this weekend at a circuit where the FK2 version of the Honda Civic Type R is expected to be strong.

Andrew Jordan was third quickest in his BMW despite being late starting the session as a result of an issue with the power steering rack on his car, with the red flag stoppage meaning he was able to minimise the amount of track time he lost compared to his rivals.

Jordan wouldn’t be the only person to run into issues with his power steering either, with similar problems affecting both Rory Butcher’s MG and the Vauxhall Astra of Senna Proctor.

Having spent time at the head of the timesheets, Rob Austin’s Alfa Romeo slotted into fourth with Mike Bushell the best of the Team HARD-run Volkswagens in fifth. Team-mate Bobby Thompson had run well inside the top ten early on before pulling off at the exit of McIntyres mid-way through the session.

Tom Chilton rounded out the top six in his Motorbase-run Ford Focus ahead of Ciceley pair Tom Oliphant and Adam Morgan, with the Ford of Sam Tordoff and Tom Ingram’s Toyota rounding out the top ten.

Points leader Colin Turkington ended the session in 18th spot in his ballast-heavy BMW, with his best time six-tenths of a second off top spot. In total, the top 27 cars were covered by less than a second.