Ash Sutton hits the front in FP2 at Donington Park

Defending champion Ash Sutton moved to the head of the times in second free practice at Donington Park ahead of the opening rounds of the new BTCC season.

Although not able to match the pace set by Tom Ingram in the morning, Sutton led the way at the wheel of his Motorbase-run Ford Focus with a lap that was just good enough to prevent Ricky Collard from leading the way for Speedworks.

The pair would be split by just 0.053s at the conclusion of the session, with Gordon Shedden and Colin Turkington behind ensuring that four different brands would be represented in the top four positions.

Turkington’s WSR team-mate Stephen Jelley was just behind in fifth spot with Ingram in sixth ahead of his EXCELR8 team-mate Dan Lloyd and Dan Cammish’s Ford.

Further down the times, it would prove to be a tricky session for BTC Racing as both Jade Edwards and Josh Cook ran into problems.

Edwards would bring out a mid-session red flag whilst Cook – who damaged his car in contact with the tyres in the opening session – was the only driver not to set a time.