Free Practice One at Snetterton turned out to be a battle between the ballast-free Subaru of Colin Turkington and the championship leading BMW of Sam Tordoff, with the former pulling away from the chasing pack in the closing stages.

Turkington topped the times with just over 15 minutes to go, which initially left him less than a tenth ahead of Tordoff, but the Subaru Levorg stretched its legs even further in the closing moments to set a stunning lap time. A 1:56.547s is still half a second shy of the qualifying lap record but Turkington put everyone else in the shade, with Tordoff 0.494s off the ultimate pace.

Adam Morgan’s Mercedes led the way early on as MG, Ford, BMW and Subaru made it five marques in the top five places shortly after mid-distance. Ashley Sutton, Andrew Jordan and Morgan remained quick throughout with the trio taking third through to fifth in the times at the finish.

Aron Smith – whose VW produced the fastest straight line speed during the session – ended up sixth. The Irishman is chasing his first win of the season, and the Team BKR driver stands a good chance of doing so this weekend.

Josh Cook made it two MG’s in the top seven, whilst Tom Ingram followed next down in the order. Speedworks Motorsport’s Ingram has already claimed two pole positions in 2016 and was the Snetterton pace-setter during summer testing earlier this month, so he’ll likely be a contender this afternoon.

Mat Jackson and James Cole completed the top ten with the former bouncing back from early session engine problems in his Motorbase Ford Focus.

The two Hondas left it late – only setting times in the closing minutes – as Matt Neal eventually pipped team-mate Gordon Shedden to 11th.

Other things of note included Rob Collard’s BMW suffering from steering issues, whilst Dan Welch’s Proton failed to join the action. Michael Caine completed 14 laps in the Team HARD-run Toyota on his return to the series.

Free Practice Two takes place at 12:05, before the all-important qualifying session commences at 15:50 which can be streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc.

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 1 – Snetterton:

1 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing 1m56.547s
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.494s
3 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.584s
4 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.632s
5 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +0.702s
6 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +0.732s
7 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.924s
8 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.983s
9 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +1.020s
10 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1.077s
11 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.107s
12 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.124s
13 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +1.136s
14 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1.145s
15 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +1.263s
16 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +1.289s
17 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1.379s
18 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +1.394s
19 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +1.510s
20 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +1.515s
21 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1.557s
22 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com+1.764s
23 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +1.823s
24 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +1.928s
25 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +1.983s
26 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +2.247s
27 Michael CAINE (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +2.272s
28 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +2.414s
29 Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +4.197s
30 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +5.005s