The CPRL Mercedes team kept up its recent rich vein of form with Dan Rowbottom going quickest in free practice for the British Touring Car Championship round at Croft.
The bearded Midlander and sidekick Adam Morgan – who has won five times including qualifying races across the past two race weekends – spent much of the session with hard tyres (mandated for one race this weekend) fitted to their Mercedes A35 Saloons.
But Rowbottom went on a run on soft rubber late on to become the only driver to get below the 1m21s barrier. He set two times quicker than the best managed by anyone else, finishing up on top of the pile by 0.156 seconds. The soft Goodyears are the compound that must be used in two of the three races.
A late run from Mikey Doble brought his Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon up into second place in the order, pipping the Alliance Racing-run NAPA Ford Focus Titanium of Dan Cammish by just 0.001s.
Josh Cook was up at the sharp end for much of the session before finishing up fourth. While Rowbottom and Morgan have moved into the top seven in the championship, meaning they will be subject to TOCA Turbo Boost restrictions through the rest of Saturday plus Sunday’s opening race, Cook has slipped out of that bracket so his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport will be unhandicapped.
Tom Ingram, Team VERTU
Photo by: JEP
The Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N Fastback of reigning champion and current series runner-up Tom Ingram looked extremely good through the Clervaux and Hawthorns section and sat at the top of the order before the late flurry of times dumped Ingram back to fifth.
Another to fall down the order – to sixth – late on was runaway points leader Ash Sutton at the wheel of his Alliance Ford. The four-time champion owned up to being culpable for a red flag during the second half of the session to clear up gravel brought onto the circuit at Clervaux and the chicane, but he was far from the only culprit. Suffice to say, Sutton now knows what entry speed to Clervaux is marginally too fast.
Equalling Sutton’s time to the thousandth was Charles Rainford, who placed seventh in his West Surrey Racing BMW 330i M Sport. Aiden Moffat (PMR Audi), Daryl De Leon (WSR BMW) and Tom Chilton (Excelr8 Hyundai) completed the top 10.
Morgan, who ended up 19th, has been dealt a five-point penalty for going above the maximum permissible number of engine changes during the season, following the misfire that came close to scuppering his victory in the Donington Park finale.
BTCC Croft – Practice results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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