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British Touring Car Championship
Oulton Park - Free Practice - 9/6/12
By MJP Media | 9 June 2012
Jason Plato tops the time sheets in both free practice sessions at Oulton Park however the Hondas of Matt Neal, Andrew Jordan and Gordon Shedden are close behind.
Jason Plato was fastest in both practice sessions
Following a short break, the British Touring Car Championship resumed in earnest at the picturesque Oulton Park circuit when the drivers took to a damp track for the first free practice session.
Jason Plato set the fastest time in his MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 with the Redstone Racing Ford Focus of Mat Jackson 2nd fastest. A much improved Andy Neate was 3rd in the other MG6.
Matt Neal's Honda Civic was 2nd fastest
The biggest surprise of the session was Gordon Shedden who was at the bottom of the time sheet in 22nd place, however the Honda Yuasa Racing Team driver had a cunning plan. Anticipating an improvement in the track conditions later in the day, the Scot from Dalgety Bay ran the whole of the damp session on slick tyres in order to get a good dry-weather setup.
On a drying track, Jason Plato was fastest once again in the second free practice session. Behind Plato's MG6, the Honda Civics were gathering. Matt Neal improved on his 4th place in the first session, finishing 2nd fastest for Honda Yuasa Racing. Andrew Jordan climbed from 5th to 3rd in his Pirtek Racing Civic.
Andrew Jordan completed the top 3 for Pirtek Racing
Andy Neate slipped from 3rd to 6th, however Gordon Shedden's earlier gamble of running on slicks seemed to pay off as he ended the session in 4th place ahead of the eBay Motors BMW 320si of Rob Collard in 5th.
The second practice session was stopped early following a couple of red flag periods with neither Mat Jackson, Chris James nor Lea Wood completing a single lap. Next this afternoon is the all-important qualifying session to determine the grid for the first race tomorrow.
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