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British Touring Car Championship
Brands Hatch (Indy) - Free Practice - 30/3/13

By MJP Media | 30 March 2013

Jason Plato and Andrew Jordan set the fastest times in free practice at Brands Hatch with Gordon Shedden 2nd in both sessions.

Jason Plato in the MG KX Momentum Racing MG6

Following the winter break, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship roared into life as the cars took to the Brands Hatch circuit for the two free practice sessions ahead of the first race of the season tomorrow.

In bitterly cold conditions, it was former BTCC champion Jason Plato's MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 which topped the timesheets in the first free practice session, closely followed by reigning champion Gordon Shedden in the Honda Yuasa Racing Civic. Defending Independents champion Andrew Jordan also performed well, ending the session third fastest in his Pirtek Racing Honda Civic with team-mate Jeff Smith an impressive 4th. After several years away from the BTCC, former champion Colin Turkington was 5th fastest in his eBay Motors BMW 125i with Matt Neal 6th for Honda Yuasa Racing. Frank Wrathall, Rob Austin, Rob Collard and Dave Newsham completed the top ten.

Gordon Shedden was 2nd fastest in both practice sessions

In the second session the same three drivers topped the time sheets however it was Andrew Jordan who posted the fastest time with Gordon Shedden again 2nd and Jason Plato 3rd. Matt Neal improved on his first session performance, ending the session 4th fastest while Adam Morgan leapt from 15th in the first session to 5th in the second, becoming the highest placed Toyota driver for the Ciceley Racing team.

Jeff Smith kept up Pirtek Racing's excellent performance with another top 6 place ahead of Frank Wrathall who ended both sessions in 7th place. Dave Newsham improved to finish 8th with Sam Tordoff 9th in the second MG6. Colin Turkington completed the top ten places for eBay Motors.

Jeff Smith performed well alongside team-mate Andrew Jordan

The drivers of the NGTC-spec cars now have to decide in which of the three races tomorrow they nominate to use the new Dunlop soft compound tyres. The introduction of the soft tyre nomination is a new feature for 2013 with the choice of race remaining confidential until the cars take to the grid. With little practical experience of how these new tyres will perform over a race distance, the uncertainty will add an extra dimension to the team's race-day tactics.

The next action on track is the all-important qualifying session for the first race tomorrow and with pole position, the first championship point of the 2013 season.

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