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British Touring Car Championship
Donington Park - Free Practice - 20/4/13

By MJP Media | 20 April 2013

Gordon Shedden and Andrew Jordan top the time sheets in free practice at Donington Park.

Gordon Shedden tops the time sheets in the first practice session

Donington Park is the venue for the 2nd meeting of the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. In stark contrast to the opening meeting at Brands Hatch, the teams and drivers were greeted this morning by a cloudless blue sky and temperatures rapidly climbing. With weather more typical for the time of year, this weekend will be the first true test of the effect of the new Dunlop soft compound tyres.

Gordon Shedden headed a Honda Yuasa Racing Civic 1-2 in the first of the two free practice sessions from Donington Park with team-mate Matt Neal just 0.008 seconds behind the defending champion. The MG KX Momentum Racing MG6s of Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff were not far behind in 3rd and 4th place, with BTCC rookie Tordoff beating Plato to 3rd place on the weekend when the former champion competes in his 400th BTCC race.

Andrew Jordan is quickest overall in free practice

Reigning Independents Champion Andrew Jordan was 5th fastest in his Pirtek Racing Honda Civic with Adam Morgan 6th in the Ciceley Racing Toyota Avensis. Colin Turkington was 7th for eBay Motors with Aron Smith 8th for Airwaves Racing. Toyotas Avensis' completed the top ten places with Frank Wrathall 9th for Dynojet and Dave Newsham 10th for Speedworks Motorsport. The session was incredibly close, with only half a second covering the top ten drivers.

In the second session, it was Andrew Jordan who topped the time sheets with Jason Plato a close 2nd. Gordon Shedden was 3rd fastest with Sam Tordoff in 4th and Matt Neal 5th. Dave Newsham improved on his performance in the first session by completing the top 6 places ahead of fellow Toyota Avensis drivers Frank Wrathall and Adam Morgan. Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) and Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) completed the top ten.

Sam Tordoff continues to impress in the MG6

With rain forecast at some point on Sunday afternoon, the decision as to which of the three races the teams choose to use the Dunlop soft tyre will be critical. The next action from the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park is the qualifying session for the first race tomorrow with the chance to earn the 1st championship point of the weekend for taking pole position.

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