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British Touring Car Championship
Brands Hatch (GP) - Free Practice - 12/10/13

By MJP Media | 12 October 2013

Dave Newsham and Ollie Jackson top the timesheet in the first free practice session at Brands Hatch. Andrew Jordan was fastest in the second session which was stopped due to a massive accident involving Aron Smith.

Dave Newsham showed the way in the first free practice session

With Matt Neal having been given the 'all clear' to compete in the final three races of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, the drivers took to the Brands Hatch GP circuit for the first of the two free practice sessions ahead of the qualifying session for the first race tomorrow. At 2.43 miles the GP circuit is significantly longer than the Brands Hatch Indy circuit which hosted the opening races of the 2013 season and is enjoyed by many of the BTCC drivers.

The first practice session took place in bright sunshine with the track still drying from earlier rain, making track conditions variable and tyre choice difficult for all the teams. With all five BTCC title contenders failing to get into the top 7 places it was the Speedworks Motorsport duo of Dave Newsham and Ollie Jackson who topped the timesheet in their Toyota Avensis' with Newsham nearly half a second ahead of his team-mate. Sam Tordoff was 3rd fastest in his MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 with Airwaves Racing's Aron Smith and Tom Onslow-Cole 4th and 5th. Jake Hill completed the top 6 places in his Exocet Racing Audi A4.

Jason Plato had mixed fortunes in free practice

Although the practice sessions are not a true indication of overall performance, it was interesting to note that the five title contenders all appeared to struggle in the first session. Championship leader Andrew Jordan was 14th fastest for Pirtek Racing with Honda Yuasa Racing team-mates Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden 8th and 9th in their Honda Civics. Colin Turkington was 16th fastest in the eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport whilst Jason Plato was down in 24th place in his MG6.

The second practice session started with overcast skies however with only a few laps completed by most drivers, the session was stopped following a massive accident involving the Airwaves Racing Ford Focus of Aron Smith which took avoiding action to miss a Speedworks Toyota Avensis which had had suffered a mechanical failure. Smith's car hit the barrier with such force that it lost a wheel and came to rest on its side. Smith climbed free, however extensive repairs to the barrier caused the session to be delayed whilst they were rebuilt.

Andrew Jordan was fastest in the second free practice session

Once the barrier repairs had been completed, the session was restarted with 15 minutes on the clock. Whatever issues had affected the title contenders in the first session had clearly vanished as Andrew Jordan, Gordon Shedden, Jason Plato and Colin Turkington were at the top of the time sheet. With only a few minutes of the session remaining, Plato's team-mate Sam Tordoff went 3rd fastest. The session ended with championship leader Jordan posting the fastest time, just 0.005 seconds ahead of Plato. Tordoff was 3rd fastest with Shedden 4th and Turkington 5th. Frank Wrathall completed the top 6 places in the Dynojet Toyota Avensis.

Due to the shortened nature of the second qualifying session it is difficult to assess how representative the times are. The scene is now set for an exciting qualifying session to determine the grid for the first race of the day tomorrow and with it, the first championship point of the weekend.

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