Jake Hill was quickest in the opening Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship Free Practice session of the weekend on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit this morning (Saturday) after rising to the top of the times late on during the 35-minute running period.
The Kent driver guided the his Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW around his local circuit's shorter layout in 48.684s to edge out three-time champion Ash Sutton by less than a tenth of a second. Sutton spearheaded a strong opening practice outing for the locally based NAPA Racing UK team, with stablemate and series leader Dan Cammish just behind in third.
Reigning title winner Tom Ingram produced a strong showing as his EXCELR8 prepared Hyundai set the fourth quickest time, with another champion rounding out the top-five in Colin Turkington.
Bobby Thompson produced a strong showing in the first of the Team HARD run Cupra Leons, just ahead of Donington Park pole-sitter Daniel Rowbottom in seventh, Adam Morgan in eighth and Ricky Collard in ninth. Stephen Jelley was 10th to ensure that all four of the WSR-run BMWs featured in the top-10.
It was a fiercely contested session in which the first 20 runners were separated by less than a second ahead of Free Practice 2 and Qualifying later this afternoon.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Free Practice 1, Brands Hatch
- Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, BMW 330e M Sport, 48.684s
- Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +0.097s
- Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +0.200s
- Tom Ingram, Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8, Hyundai i30N, +0.241s
- Colin Turkington, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +0.309s
- Bobby Thompson, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils, Cupra Leon, +0.324s
- Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +0.363s
- Adam Morgan, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +0.473s
- Ricky Collard, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +0.536s
- Stephen Jelley, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +0.540s
Click here for full results from this weekend's event.