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British Touring Car Championship
Oulton Park - Free Practice - 8/6/13

By MJP Media | 8 June 2013

Jason Plato and Andrew Jordan top the time sheets in free practice at a hot and sunny Oulton Park.

Jason Plato was fastest in the first free practice session

Following a short break, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship took to the track for the first of two free practice sessions at the picturesque Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire. Set in rural parkland, Oulton Park is a highly technical circuit which is adored by fans and drivers alike.

As the first session got under way it was MG KX Momentum Racing's Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff who set the initial pace in their MG6s, with the Toyotas of Ollie Jackson and Frank Wrathall just behind. Andrew Jordan then went 3rd fastest in the Pirtek Racing Honda Civic before the session was red flagged following a crash by team-mate Jeff Smith.

Jeff Smith's crash briefly stopped the session

When the session resumed it was Honda Yuasa Racing's Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal who went 2nd and 3rd fastest in their Honda Civics behind Jason Plato who was 8 tenths of a second faster. In the closing minutes, Sam Tordoff went 2nd fastest but as the session ended, it was team-mate Jason Plato who topped the time sheet. Gordon Shedden ended the session 3rd fastest ahead of Andrew Jordan 4th, Colin Turkington 5th and Matt Neal 6th.

With the sun beating down and a track temperature approaching 40 degrees, the 2nd practice session commenced with Colin Turkington setting the early pace in the eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport, however a few laps later he dropped to 3rd fastest as Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan posted quicker lap times in their Honda Civics. Turkington then dropped another place as Jason Plato posted the first sub 1:27 lap of the session in his MG6.

Andrew Jordan topped the time sheet in the second session

As the session settled down there was little change at the top of the time sheet, however with just over 6 minutes remaining, Colin Turkington went 2nd fastest and Frank Wrathall broke into the top 5. With less than 3 minutes of the session left, Gordon Shedden went 2nd fastest, just 0.057 seconds slower than Jason Plato. Plato looked set to top the time sheet once again however a last minute charge by Andrew Jordan saw Plato drop to 2nd as Jordan posted the fastest time of the session. Gordon Shedden was 3rd fastest ahead of Colin Turkington 4th, Sam Tordoff 5th and Matt Neal 6th.

The next action from the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park this afternoon is the qualifying session to determine the grid for the first race tomorrow and for the driver securing pole position, the first championship point of the weekend.

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