Reigning Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion Ash Sutton is enjoying his most competitive day of the 2018 season so far, following up his third place finish in FP1 with a pace-setting performance in the second session.

“It’s good to be back!” said Sutton. “Everybody has upped their game this year and the grid is a lot closer than it used to be, which is making my job of defending the title tough!

“I wouldn’t read too much into it, though. A chunk of it is down to it being a rear-wheel drive track, and with Colin [Turkington] carrying maximum ballast, in theory, it should be Andrew Jordan, Rob Collard and ourselves up there. That said, the front-wheel drive cars are not that far away and I’m sure a few people have a bit more left in the tank for qualifying, so let’s hope we can dig a little bit more out too.”

Sutton’s mid-session flyer was enough to see off the challenge from Sam Tordoff’s Ford Focus, by just 0.009s. Yorkshireman Tordoff has been quick on his return to the BTCC this season, but fortune has not always been on his side in terms of results. Croft marks a pivotal weekend for Tordfoff… not only because this is his home circuit, but also because the Team GardX with Motorbase driver is currently languishing down in 12th in the standings.

Vauxhall, BMW, Alfa Romeo, Toyota, MG and VW made it eight different marques in the top eight positions during practice with Josh Cook (Power Maxed TAG Racing), Rob Collard (Team BMW), Rob Austin (HMS Racing), Tom Ingram (Speedworks Motorsport), Rory Butcher (AmD with Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing) and Jake Hill (Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing) completing places third through to eighth. 

Jason Plato confirmed Subaru’s return to form with a ninth place backing-up his top four result earlier in the day, whilst BMW Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan rounded out the top ten.

The session was red flagged briefly on two occasions when cars had made contact with a tyre stack through the chicane.

Qualifying for Round 13 of the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will take place at 15:20 and will be streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc.

2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Croft Circuit

1 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing 1m24.721s
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team GardX Racing with Motorbase +0.009s
3 Josh COOK (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.053s
4 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +0.126s
5 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing +0.245s
6 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.245
7 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.309s
8 Jake HILL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +0.332s
9 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.338s
10 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.350s
11 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.482s
12 James COLE (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.532s
13 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +0.547s
14 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.571s
15 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.582s
16 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.588s
17 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.602s
18 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.650s
19 Dan LLOYD (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.722s
20 Josh PRICE (GBR) Autoglym Academy Racing +0.746s
21 Brett SMITH (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +0.789s
22 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.827s
23 Michael CAINE (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +1.008s
24 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +1.028s
25 Jack GOFF (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +1.039s
26 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +1.126s
27 Tom BOARDMAN (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +1.146s
28 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +1.221s
29 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1.244s
30 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +2.207s
31 Sam SMELT (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +3.470s
32 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +5.323s