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British Touring Car Championship
Croft - Free Practice - 28/6/14

By MJP Media | 28 June 2014

Colin Turkington and Sam Tordoff top the time sheets in the free practice sessions at Croft.

Colin Turkington was fastest in the first session

Croft Circuit is the venue for the 5th meeting of the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Colin Turkington arrives at the North Yorkshire circuit leading the championship having knocked defending champion Andrew Jordan off the top of the championship table last time out at Oulton Park where most of the Honda drivers struggled to perform well. Gordon Shedden arrives at Croft 2nd in the championship with Andrew Jordan 3rd and Jason Plato 4th.

Following earlier rain, the track was initially damp for the first of the free practice sessions and light rain throughout the session kept the track conditions difficult. The session was re-flagged early on after the Chevrolet Cruze of Laser Tools Racing's Aiden Moffat retired and had to be towed back to the pits following an oil leak. This was not the start to the weekend the team had hoped for after woes of Oulton Park where engine damage ruined their weekend.

Sam Tordoff topped the time sheet in the second session

Colin Turkington continued his run of good form, ending the first session at the top of the time sheet in his eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport however Andrew Jordan showed that he had returned to form, posting the 2nd fastest time of the session in his Pirtek Racing Honda Civic. Adam Morgan did well to finish the session 3rd fastest in his WIX Racing Mercedes Benz A-Class, ahead of Nick Foster's eBay Motors BMW. The MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save pairing of Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff completed the top six places in their MG6s whilst the Honda Yuasa Racing duo of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden were 9th and 15 fastest.

The MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save team had mixed fortunes in the second session, with former BTCC champion Jason Plato failing to post a lap time and team-mate Sam Tordoff topping the time sheet. Andrew Jordan and Adam Morgan repeated their performances from the first session by posting the 2nd and 3rd fastest lap times while Colin Turkington ended the session in 4th place.

Andrew Jordan was 2nd fastest in both sessions

Glynn Geddie did an excellent job putting his United Autosports Toyota Avensis in 5th place ahead of Rob Austin who was 6th fastest before crashing his Exocet Racing Audi A4, causing potentially extensive damage and ending the session early. Honda Yuasa Racing made only slight improvements over their earlier results with Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal ending the second session 7th and 12th fastest.

The scene is now set for the qualifying session later this afternoon to determine the grid for the first of the three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races tomorrow and with pole position, the chance to earn the first championship point of the weekend.

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