Tom Ingram heads opening practice at Brands Hatch

Tom Ingram grabbed early bragging rights ahead of the BTCC season finale with a late lap putting him top of the opening practice session at Brands Hatch.

Ingram left it late in the session to make his move to the head of the field, with a time of 1:30.712s being good enough to edge out Jake Hill from top spot.

Hill had looked set to top the times at his home circuit before being knocked back to second spot, leaving him to split the title protagonists as Ash Sutton put his Focus into third spot, a tenth of a second back.

Ricky Collard would be best of the rest in his Toyota with the fourth fastest time, with Stephen Jelley and Bobby Thompson rounding out the top six as the field largely cycled through programmes focused on preparing for the remainder of the weekend – with the majority of quick laps coming later in the session.

Amongst the Jack Sears Trophy contender, Mikey Doble was quickest in 17th overall, four places clear of team-mate Andrew Watson.

The session was briefly halted after an issue for Adam Morgan saw his BMW grind to a halt on the exit of Graham Hill Bend before being towed back to the pits to allow the WSR squad to carry out repair.