EXCELR8 Motorsport's Ronan Pearson set the overall pace during the second official Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship pre-season, with the #14 Hyundai's morning lap time holding sway throughout the day at Croft.
With wet conditions setting in for much of the afternoon running it was NAPA Racing UK that enjoyed the best of the tricky conditions as Ash Sutton topped team-mate Dan Rowbottom in the order, albeit several seconds off Pearson's ultimate pace.
Toyota Gazoo Racing's Andrew Watson was third quickest in the wet, whilst Tom Ingram bounced back from an earlier fire in his Hyundai to take fourth in the afternoon.
It was Pearson, however, who stole the show with his 1:22.243s flier taking top spot from the WSR-run BMWs of Jake Hill and Colin Turkington.
The afternoon proved more difficult, however, with Hill's Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport’s crashing into the barrier while on a quick lap through the Sunny In/Sunny Out section.
Josh Cook was another likely title contender that ended his day early after the Bath driver also had an off-track moment.
The NAPA Racing UK trio of Dan Cammish, Sutton and Rowbottom were fourth, fifth and sixth overall, thanks to their morning efforts, as the squad proved the pace of the Ford Focus in both wet and dry conditions.
Tom Chilton’s #3 EXCELR8 Motorsport Hyundai was next up, ahead of a Speedworks-run treble of Robb Huff, Josh Cook and Watson rounding out the top ten.
Now the BTCC moves to Donington Park for the Official 2024 Season Launch and the final test session on Tuesday 16 April.
A full timing classification of the BTCC test at Croft can be found here.
EXCELR8 Motorsport's Ronan Pearson set the pace during the morning session at Croft Circuit today (10 April), before rain brought a premature halt to proceedings.
The young Hyundai driver set an impressive pace as the #14 held off a gaggle of BMWs and Fords on the timesheets.
Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport's Jake Hill and Team BMW's Colin Turkington were second and third, as the Bavarian marque continues to show its winter improvements following impressive runs for both Hill and stablemate Adam Morgan at Brands Hatch last week.
The NAPA Racing UK trio of Dan Cammish, Ash Sutton and Dan Rowbottom were third, fourth and fifth respectively, as we begin to get a glimpse of the likely competitiveness in the 2024 BTCC field.
Tom Chilton's #3 EXCELR8 Motorsport Hyundai was next up, ahead of a Speedworks-run treble of Robb Huff, Josh Cook and Andrew Watson – the latter not only setting a solid lap time, but also experiencing an off midway through the session, which brought about one of a few red flag periods during the morning running.
2022 Champion Tom Ingram was one of the drivers who didn't set a competitive lap time during the session, and that opportunity was completely taken away when rain descended onto the North Yorkshire circuit in the final hour of the morning.
The action gets back underway this afternoon and you can follow live timing here.
A full timing classification of the BTCC test at Croft can be found here.
Biography
Scott Sumpton is making his debut in the BTCC for a full season in 2024. The 19-year old will be racing for a new team in Restart Racing alongside returning driver Chris Smiley.
Sumpton has previously raced in other touring car categories over the past two years driving both a Honda Civic and a Hyundai i30. A jump to a new series in a new car mix for an intriguing debut season.
Biography
Chris Smiley made his debut in the BTCC in 2016 for TLC Racing in the Toyota Avensis, competing in the first half of the season.
In 2017, Smiley would compete in his first full season in the BTCC for BTC Norlin Racing with a season best finish of ninth.
It would only take until his second full season before Smiley would take his first and only, to date, BTCC win at Rockingham in race three. Adding a second place at Donington Park saw Smiley almost halve his championship position on his debut season.
A return to the Honda Civic, as in 2018, saw Smiley return to the podium places again on multiple occasions in 2019. Making a season best finish of second in the opening race at Croft.
In 2020, Smiley would make the switch to drive the Hyundai i30 with EXCELR8 Motorsport having another successful season adding a further podium to his resume.
2021 would be Smiley’s last BTCC season to date, once more in the Hyundai i30, just missing out on a podium with a season best finish of fourth.
After two seasons away the Northern Irishman makes his return to the BTCC with Restart Racing in the Cupra Leon.
Jake Hill finished the first official test of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship pre-season on top of the timesheet after a day of mixed conditions at Brands Hatch.
The Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver made the most of the ever-improving conditions in the afternoon session to make his mark in the #24 BMW.
The track was still damp from the morning rain as the afternoon session got underway, and it was Josh Cook in his Speedworks-run Toyota leading the way early on, with EXCELR8 Motorsport's Ronan Pearson a close second.
Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing's Árón Taylor-Smith was next in the order as the times started to tumble throughout the afternoon. Cook's consistency was clear to see in his new Toyota, as the Bath racer set several competitive lap times.
Reigning champion Ash Sutton was never far from the action as he continued to place himself third in the standings through both the opening hours. NAPA Racing UK's #1 ended the day just outside the top five in sixth.
The last 30 minutes were where the lap times were coming in thick and fast as the day drew to a close. Hill topping the times with a 47.868 second lap with series returnee Rob Huff taking second for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK and, the morning-session's fastest man, Adam Morgan less than a tenth behind in his Team BMW machine.
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship now moves on to Croft for its second test on 10 April, before the final run at Donington Park on 16 April.
Click here for the full classification from today's test at Brands Hatch.
Team BMW's Adam Morgan set the pace during the opening morning of the first official pre-season BTCC test at Brands Hatch.
The 2024 testing programme got underway today, 3 April, with Morgan setting the benchmark in the drying morning session.
Track action was limited as the lights went green. With only the BMWs of both Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport's Jake Hill and Team BMW’s Colin Turkington taking to the track as conditions were less than ideal during a spell of heavy rain.
Soon after the on-track action ramped up as the rain had settled. A repeat of 2023 took place early on as reigning champion Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK) topped the timesheet come the end of the first hour. Hill and Tom Ingram (EXCELR8 Motorsport) followed behind to start 2024 with the same top three of last season.
The rain continued to pour throughout the opening hours as Andrew Watson, new Toyota Gazoo Racing UK driver, topped the times at the end of hour two.
Watson’s ex-team-mate Árón Taylor-Smith (Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing) was among the drivers climbing the timesheet in the second hour, breaking into the top five before moving to the summit at the end of the third hour.
Conditions improved late on as the track began to dry for the first time of the test. Taylor-Smith's time would see him in tenth as the track was drying and Morgan set his time late on to put his BMW top of the timesheet. Closely followed by Dan Cammish for NAPA Racing UK and the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK of Watson.
"The time is obviously not important at this stage but I feel good in the car and I'm excited about my second season with WSR," said Morgan.
"Seeing what the team has done over the winter is phenomenal. It's incredible to see that every aspect of the car has been looked at and improved."