Turkington, Collard and Sutton take wins during Croft BTCC thriller

MG Racing RCIB Insurance driver Ashley Sutton stormed to his first ever Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship victory after producing an outstanding performance in the final encounter at Croft. The young rookie's success means that the BTCC boasts ten different race winners from the opening 15 races of the 2016 season.

The first wet race since Brands Hatch in 2014 – some 44 races ago – left teams scrambling for Dunlop Blu Response wet tyres prior to the start, although the likes of Gordon Shedden and Mat Jackson gambled unsuccessfully on slicks.

Pole-sitter Sam Tordoff held station from Tom Ingram and Jack Goff in the early running, with Sutton trailing Colin Turkington's Subaru in fifth as the rain lashed down at the North Yorkshire venue.

Despite an early safety car intervention the action resumed in emphatic style as Turkington flung his car around the outside of Goff's BMW at Tower, with Sutton's MG following suit at the next turn.

The wet conditions created some dramatic scenes with the MG duo of Sutton and Josh Cook in particular sliding their cars sideways through the Esses.

Sutton clipped Turkinton's Subaru at the Hairpin on lap nine to move into third, with Rob Collard also nipping by his former WSR team-mate.

One tour later and Sutton was past Ingram on the approach to the Esses and he immediately set about hunting down race leader Tordoff. He was further aided by a late safety car period, which gave Sutton two laps to make a move on the Team JCT600 with GardX BMW, and that's exactly what he did on the penultimate tour.

Clearly carrying much more speed and control than the rear-wheel drive BMW in wet conditions, Sutton blasted by Tordoff at Sunny and never looked back as he claimed a famous first win.

"I'm over the moon," said Sutton. "I knew we had the pace but I didn't have very long to get the move done. I had to go for it and I'm delighted I did!"

Tordoff had to make do with second, extending his championship lead in the process, while Ingram completed the podium positions.

Collard continued his scrap with Turkington until the finish, with the latter being further demoted after a final corner nudge from Cook's MG. That allowed Andrew Jordan's Pirtek Ford to also nip by, eventually leaving Silverline Subaru BMR Racing's Turkington down in seventh.

Aron Smith took a hard earned eighth, ahead of the fading Goff, whilst Jason Plato completed a low key drive in tenth.

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 15 – Croft

1 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance 32m50.206s
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +1.337s
3 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +2.284s
4 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +2.860s
5 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +3.759s
6 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +4.324s
7 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +4.683s
8 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +4.947s
9 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +5.942s
10 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +6.290s
11 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +7.587s
12 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +8.685s
13 Dan LLOYD (GBR) Eurotech Racing +9.835s
14 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +10.999s
15 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +12.417s
16 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +14.227s
17 Daniel WELCH (GBR) Goodstone Racing +14.818s
18 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +16.955s
19 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +17.240s
20 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +17.813s
21 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +17.925s
22 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +18.639s
23 Chris SMILEY (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +18.730s
24 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +34.869s
25 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing with Team Parker +1 lap
26 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +1 lap
DNF Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +3 laps
DNF Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +6 laps
DNF Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +14 laps
DNF Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +14 laps
DNF Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +14 laps
DNF Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing

Rob Collard claimed the second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race at Croft after Subaru's Colin Turkington and Jason Plato clashed while battling for the lead.

It was the duel between Turkington and Plato that provided the main storyline throughout the race, which initially seemed to favour the latter. Plato made a brilliant start and was able to sail around the outside of his team-mate into turn one.

Turkington hounded his Silverline Subaru BMR Racing stablemate during the early laps and regained the lead at Tower on lap four, but the battle was far from over. Plato tagged Turkington's Levorg into the same corner at mid-distance, sending both cars sliding wide, as the West Surrey Racing duo of Jack Goff and Rob Collard looked on.

Team IHG Rewards Club's Goff hesitated in the melee but Collard needed no second invitation as he blasted his Team JCT600 with GardX machine from fourth to first in the blink of an eye. As the Subarus straightened out it was Plato lying in second with Turkington now demoted to third.

The incident seemed to stunt the pace and progress of both Subarus, leaving the top four places unchanged until the finish, handing Collard a well deserved victory and the 50th podium in his BTCC career. Plato and Turkington completed the rostrum positions, with Goff taking a hard earned fourth.

"If in doubt, flat out!" said Collard, when describing his move for the lead. "I was boxed in behind Jack Goff but then the two Subarus touched and a gap appeared. It was an extremely small gap but it was just big enough to get into, and thankfully Jason gave me room. It's a great result for the whole team and really good for our championship."

The scrap behind was several seconds adrift as Ashley Sutton produced his second mature and consistent performance of the day. The ultimate pace in the MG6 doesn't quite seem to be there in race conditions at Croft, which has forced Sutton to defend in valiant fashion. He held on admirably yet again, as he did in race one, to take fifth ahead of Motorbase Performance's Mat Jackson.

Tom Ingram held Sam Tordoff at bay to secure seventh, but the latter had reason to cheer after the race. The championship leader worked hard over the closing laps to pull identical moves on Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan on the exit of the Hairpin, and his reward was a reverse grid pole position for race three. Jordan and Neal completed the top ten order.

Tordoff now leads the standings from Neal by two points, whilst Collard's win moves him to within seven points of the championship summit. Race three takes place at 5pm with every minute being screened live on ITV4.

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 14 – Croft

1 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX 23m59.017s
2 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +2.341s
3 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +5.152s
4 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +7.038s
5 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +12.363s
6 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +15.335s
7 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +15.815s
8 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +16.062s
9 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +17.782s
10 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +18.117s
11 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +18.715s
12 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +19.489s
13 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +20.447s
14 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +26.371s
15 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +30.794s
16 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +35.166s
17 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +36.961s
18 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +39.323s
19 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +40.350s
20 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +41.919s
21 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +42.122s
22 Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +46.511s
23 Dan LLOYD (GBR) Eurotech Racing +49.851s
24 Chris SMILEY (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +50.879s
25 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing with Team Parker +51.612s
26 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing+59.090s
27 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +1m06.051s
28 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +1m10.388s
DNF Daniel WELCH (GBR) Goodstone Racing +4 laps
DNF Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +5 laps
DNF Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +8 laps
DNF James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing

A number of drivers reach significant milestones at Croft today with a quartet of competitors clocking up 950 BTCC races between them.

Rob Collard (400 races), Gordon Shedden (300), Rob Austin (150) and Jack Goff (100) are all celebrating different stages of their respective careers at the North Yorkshire venue, with one man inparticular having made the most of his opportunity in Britain’s best motor racing series.

“It feels like about ten minutes ago when it all began, as opposed to ten years,” said two-time champion Shedden. “It was hard to get a foothold in the series at first. I had to work really hard but I eventually found a home at Team Dynamics. I’m really good friends with Matt [Neal] – we get on well and it’s great to work together in pushing the team and car forwards. I wish I was celebrating 300 wins but 300 races is still a great achievement.”

Shedden, Goff and Collard made their milestones in race one, whilst Austin reaches his landmark in race two.

Colin Turkington led home team-mate Jason Plato in the BTCC opener at Croft to score the first ever one-two finish for Silverline Subaru BMR Racing. It was a podium of firsts as Ashley Sutton took his maiden rostrum for MG Racing RCIB Insurance.

Turkington was in command for the duration although he had to contend with the attentions of Plato, plus three safety car interruptions and an early attack from fellow front-row starter Daniel Lloyd.

Lloyd's Eurotech Honda made a great getaway off the line, which left him on the outside of Turkington going into turn one. The young BTCC rookie turned in to early, however, and inevitable contact followed. The Civic Type R was fired off into the gravel and out of the race, whilst Sam Tordoff's BMW also fell down the order with his own off-track excursion.

"That's the highs and lows of motorsport," said Lloyd. "I'm kicking myself as I wasn't expecting to get off the line so well. It was the best start I've ever had but it forced me to take the outside line. It's horrible out there as you have two options; go for it or stay wide and then let everyone fly past down your inside. In hindsight I should have taken the latter choice. It was just one of those things."

Championship leader Tordoff was able to fight his way back up the order although the lap one incident would eventually catch up with him. An oil leak – caused by his early trip through the gravel – forced him out of top-level contention, although he scored minor points to remain at the top of the table alongside Matt Neal.

Hunter Abbott's top ten challenge didn't last long unfortunately after his slid wide and collected Adam Morgan's Mercedes on the opening lap. Abbott's Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet retired on the spot while the WIX Racing Mercedes endured more contact later in the contest – a hit from behind by Mat Jackson's Ford, after he had received his own nudge, ultimately ended Morgan's race.

An off for Mark Howard's VW and retirement for the Laser Tools Racing Mercedes of Aiden Moffat were two further reasons for safety car interventions, which leader Turkington dealt with in his stride.

Plato kept him honest, after getting his own stellar start, but the Ulsterman held him off at arms length to take his second victory of the season.

"They certainly didn’t make that one easy for me," said Turkington. "It was the kind of race where you need to remain 100 per cent focused right to the end. To have three safety car periods is quite unusual, and with the tyre pressures dropping at the lower speeds, I had to carefully manage all the re-starts which was tricky. With Jason not far behind either, there was absolutely no margin for error, but the team gave us both a fantastic car so massive credit to them all.

"The Subaru Levorg package is getting stronger and we’re not a million miles away with it now. Of course, I’ll have an extra 75kg on-board in race two – which is effectively another me plus all my shopping – so that will obviously take some speed off, but the chassis is working really well so we should still be in good shape."

Sutton produced arguably the defensive drive of his career as Jack Goff's Team IHG Rewards Club BMW searched for a way past for the entire 18-lap battle. Goff looked to have secured the deal on a number of occasions but Sutton would not be denied his first BTCC podium.

"That's a great result," beamed Sutton. "It was really hard out there. I was expecting to get squeezed out at turn one, but we hung on and I knew the Subarus would be off into the distance after that. It was then all about keeping Jack behind me while looking after the car and tyres – I am delighted and it's a great result for the team."

Andrew Jordan's Ford was fifth with arguably 'driver of the race' Jake Hill close behind. The Team HARD-run Toyota did not look out of place fighting in more illustrious company and Hill remained on the attack throughout. Eventually he had to settle for an impressive sixth, his best ever finish in the BTCC.

Rob Collard made steady progress up the order from 13th on the grid to take seventh, becoming the highest finisher of the hard-shod tyre cars, whilst Jackson's Ford rallied to a hard fought eighth. Tom Ingram and Aron Smith completed the top ten order.

Both Halfords Yuasa Racing drivers scored points, but Neal and team-mate Gordon Shedden showed a distinct lack of pace – both Hondas eventually finishing outside the top ten.

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 13 – Croft

1 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing 29m56.374s
2 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1.353s
3 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +2.305s
4 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +2.689s
5 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +6.429s
6 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +7.136s
7 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +7.306s
8 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +8.025s
9 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +8.279s
10 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +9.191s
11 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +9.343s
12 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +10.208s
13 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +12.409s
14 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +12.903s
15 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +13.969s
16 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing+14.453s
17 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +14.895s
18 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +15.471s
19 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +16.124s
20 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +17.269s
21 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing with Team Parker +18.927s
22 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +19.299s
23 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +19.720s
24 Chris SMILEY (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +20.407s
DNF Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +6 laps
DNF James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +9 laps
DNF Daniel WELCH (GBR) Goodstone Racing +9 laps
DNF Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +9 laps
DNF Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +11 laps
DNF Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +12s
DNF Dan LLOYD (GBR) Eurotech Racing
DNF Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing

Ashley Sutton bounced back from a troubled start to Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship qualifying at Croft this weekend to split the rear-wheel drive cars in third place on the grid – in so doing becoming the season’s best qualifier to date.

Having already displayed a scintillating turn of speed during his rookie campaign in the UK’s premier motor sport series, Sutton again starred in qualifying at Croft – but a couple of early errors left him languishing well down the timesheets as the clock ticked down.

The MG driver pulled it all together later on, however, to vault up to third position, narrowly being pipped to front-wheel drive honours around a circuit that has traditionally favoured RWD machinery. That also saw Sutton overtake Tom Ingram to become the fastest average qualifier over the first half of 2016, as the only competitor to line up inside the top ten in every meeting so far.

“If someone had told me before the weekend that I would qualify third at a predominantly rear-wheel drive track, I would definitely have taken it!” the 22-year-old acknowledged. “I’m over the moon.

“We didn’t use new tyres in practice, so I had never run them around here before qualifying and I was caught out by how responsive the car was on them at the chicane on my first ‘flyer’.

“We then put on another new set of tyres and went back out. I was on a really good lap, which was two tenths faster than the one that eventually put me third, but I lost the car again at the Complex. I had to make quite a big save, which hurt the tyres a little bit and then the next lap was the one that got me the grid position.

“It’s incredibly close and it was a shame not to be the fastest front-wheel drive car, but hats off to Dan. It will be an interesting race day and I’m definitely happier starting on the inside line, so we’ll see what happens...”

Polesitter Colin Turkington, and the West Surrey Racing duo of Rob Collard and Jack Goff speak to btcc.net on a qualifying session at North Yorkshire's Croft Circuit having encountered differing fortunes. Here what they had to say:

Colin Turkington set an impressive qualifying pace at Croft to claim his second successive Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship pole position for Silverline Subaru BMR Racing.

Turkington – dubbed the 'King of Croft' during his West Surrey Racing days – will be looking to add to his tally of ten victories at the North Yorkshire circuit tomorrow, and he'll be quietly confident of doing so after producing a commanding performance in qualifying.

The double BTCC champion controlled the session, continuing to raise the bar throughout the 30 minutes of running. Turkington kept his rivals at arm's length for the most part, and was able to extend the advantage whenever his supremacy looked in doubt.

His first benchmark lap time was a 1:24.291s, as Halfords Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal initially slipped into second. Sam Tordoff, Tom Ingram and the talented youngster Jake Hill then took turns to relegate Neal slightly down the order, but considerably worse was to follow for the Honda driver.

As the session reached mid-distance Neal's Honda Civic Type R approached Rob Collard's BMW at speed, with the latter having just left the pit lane on cold tyres. Although Collard looked to give Neal room to pass on the inside at Hawthorn's, the two cars made contact, ending both of their challenges on the spot.

"I thought there was enough space but unfortunately we just touched wheels," was Neal's take on proceedings.

"Matt misjudged the gap," claimed Collard. "I was on cold tyres and left a gap. He’s apologised, he got it wrong, but it doesn’t bring qualifying back for me. I’d shown good pace and we were looking for a potential top five – it’s very frustrating."

The Clerk of the Course adjudged that Neal was in the wrong as he was handed a post-qualifying reprimand and two penalty points on his licence for his part in the incident.

Turkington was into the 1:23s bracket before the stoppage to retrieve Neal and Collard's stricken cars, but the pace quickened further after the restart.

Jeff Smith, Adam Morgan and Jason Plato were among those to recover from spins, whilst Ashley Sutton slid wildly on two separate occasions, but critically without any lasting damage to his MG6.

Incredibly the young MG Racing RCIB Insurance driver bounced back brilliantly from his double setback, as he and another BTCC rookie – Daniel Lloyd – produced late heroics. Sutton blasted into second, only to be immediately pipped by Lloyd's Eurotech Honda. The 24-year-old Yorkshireman had already performed admirably during practice, and he astonishingly backed that up by scoring his second front row start in succession.

Turkington had lowered the target further still before the finish, as Lloyd and Sutton wedged themselves between the Ulsterman and the sister Subaru of Plato.

Championship leader Tordoff had to settle for fifth, but it was still a great effort for the Team JCT600 with GardX driver in his maximum ballast-laden BMW. Jack Goff left it late to grab sixth in the Team IHG Rewards Club BMW, whilst Hunter Abbott was later still in securing his best qualifying result of seventh.

It was an encouraging display from Power Maxed Racing's Abbott, who had earlier signalled his intent to score solid points at Croft this weekend.

The Motorbase Performance pairing of Andrew Jordan and Mat Jackson were next on the timesheets, whilst WIX Racing's Adam Morgan did well to recover from ride height failure and an earlier spin to claim tenth.

Colin Turkington said: "I’ve always really enjoyed driving at Croft, no matter what the car. I usually go well here. Like at Oulton Park, we gradually improved the Subaru throughout the day, and qualifying was the first time we bolted on fresh rubber. I need to say a big ‘thank you’ to the boys for giving me a great car again, and it’s fantastic to be able to reward them with another pole position."

Daniel Lloyd said: "We took a bit of a risk at the end of the session and we only really had one lap to move up the order. It was great to really make that lap count. It’s mega to be on the front row for the second weekend on the bounce, particularly now that I’ve got a bit of experience of competing at the front in the BTCC. Racing is obviously another kettle of fish and I got caught out on a couple of occasions at Oulton, but I won’t be letting that happen again!"

Ashley Sutton said: "I made a mistake on my first lap. We then put on another new set of tyres and went back out. I was on a really good lap, which was two tenths faster than the one that eventually put me third, but I lost the car again at turn 12. I had to make quite a big save, which hurt the tyres a little bit, and then the next lap was the one that got me the grid position. That said if someone would have told me before the weekend that I would qualify third at a predominantly rear-wheel drive track I would definitely have taken it. I’m over the moon."

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Qualifying – Croft Circuit:

1 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing 1m23.608s (91.49mph)
2 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.397s
3 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.400s
4 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.412s
5 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.445s
6 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +0.460s
7 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.463s
8 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.576s
9 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.621s
10 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +0.645s
11 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +0.681s
12 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.703s
13 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.724s
14 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +0.773s
15 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.825s
16 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +0.849s
17 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.915s
18 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1.055s
19 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +1.061s
20 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1.113s
21 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1.219s
22 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com+1.251s
23 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +1.322s
24 Daniel WELCH (GBR) Goodstone Racing +1.442s
25 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1.452s
26 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +1.473s
27 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +1.517s
28 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +1.742s
29 Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +2.016s
30 Chris SMILEY (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +2.301s
31 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +3.146s
32 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +3.327s

Eurotech Racing's Daniel Lloyd has set the fastest time of the weekend so far after clocking a late lap in the final practice session at Croft.

The BTCC rookie has shown impressive one-lap pace since joining the series at Thruxton, and the young Yorkshireman has starred again here at Croft. With seconds ticking away in the 40 minute session, Lloyd hauled his Honda Civic Type R to the fastest first sector overall, before setting personal bests in the second and third segments – resulting in a 1:24.511s benchmark.

"It was a good run and we were able to put a decent lap down at the end," enthused Lloyd. "I knew we had good overall pace, but we spent most of the session playing around with a few things with a view to race set-up. I’m sure everybody will find a bit more speed before qualifying, but this is a good start and it’s mega to be quickest.

"Racing is obviously another kettle of fish and I got caught out on a couple of occasions at Oulton Park, but I won’t be letting that happen again. I finished FP2 here with one of my wing mirrors missing, so I’m definitely getting stuck in!"

Tom Ingram looked to have topped the times with his own fine effort in the final five minutes, before settling into second. The Speedworks Toyota driver does however, keep up his impressive record of finishing in the top three in nine of the 14 timed practice and qualifying sessions so far this season.

It was Sam Tordoff who came out of the blocks to fire his Team JCT600 with GardX BMW to top spot in the early running, later becoming the first driver to dip into the 1:24s. WSR briefly held a 1-2-3 before Team HARD drivers Michael Epps and Jake Hill briefly starred at the head of the field.

Tordoff then set his improved time and he was joined by Ingram, Jason Plato and Colin Turkington in the 1:24s bracket – the quartet separated by just 0.080s. In fact for much of the running the top 20 drivers were covered by less than a second.

Ingram jumped to the top and improved further still on his second tour of a final run, but Lloyd would not be denied as he flew through the order to snatch P1. Ingram withstood a late charge from the Motorbase Ford of Andrew Jordan, as the latter backed up his encouraging morning practice run with another stellar effort in FP2.

Tordoff eventually settled for fourth although he too will be buoyed by his performance in the maximum ballast carrying BMW.

Silverline Subaru BMR Racing held fifth, sixth and seventh but few could have predicted the order as team boss Warren Scott leaped over Jason Plato and Colin Turkington in the last few moments.

"I was actually struggling a little bit until we put a new set of tyres on," said Scott. "The guys have done a great job with this car – it’s the most enjoyable one I’ve ever driven. I’m loving it! It’ll be a bit strange going into the debrief now – the fastest driver in the team always speaks first and I’ve never been in that situation before!"

Rob Austin and Hunter Abbott enjoyed solid runs to eighth and ninth respectively, whilst the Team IHG Reward Club BMW of Jack Goff rounded out the top ten.

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Croft Circuit:

1 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Eurotech Racing 1m24.511s
2 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.009s
3 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.013s
4 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.342s
5 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.379s
6 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.407s
7 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.422s
8 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +0.428s
9 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.438s
10 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +0.507s
11 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +0.510s
12 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +0.511s
13 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.584s
14 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +0.624s
15 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +0.644s
16 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.749s
17 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.296s
18 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.849s
19 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.852s
20 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.929s
21 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing 0.959s
22 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.977s
23 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com+1.015s
24 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1.140s
25 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1.250s
26 Daniel WELCH (GBR) Goodstone Racing +1.407s
27 Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +1.495s
28 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +1.566s
29 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +1.685s
30 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +2.126s
31 Chris SMILEY (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +2.189s
32 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +4.238s

Hunter Abbott is keen to confirm the progress he and Power Maxed Racing made at Oulton Park last time out in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, as he targets a solid points haul at Croft this weekend (18/19 June).

Having switched from a rear-wheel drive Audi A4 to the front-wheel drive Chevrolet Cruze this year, Abbott has spent the first few race meetings finding his feet in his new surroundings, but a breakthrough weekend at Oulton a fortnight ago saw the 35-year-old narrowly miss the top ten in qualifying – lining up a season-best 11^th – and then bag a brace of points-scoring finishes.

Along the way, he lapped fifth-fastest in race one – topping the timing screens through the first sector – and third-quickest in race two, the best of the Independent runners and even outpacing race-winner Sam Tordoff. Abbott’s #54 car will sport the logo of new team sponsor CCTVKits.co.uk at Croft, and its driver is keen to consolidate his and PMR’s improving form.

“Over the last couple of meetings, my understanding of front-wheel drive has started to click and that has shown in our pace,” he reflected. “At Thruxton, we were third-quickest in race two, whilst at Oulton we topped the sector times at points throughout the weekend and were the second-fastest front-wheel drive car in race two. The results were solid if not quite as good as our pace, but everything is moving in the right direction.

“I like Croft and I’ve had good results here before touring cars. It’s a great circuit with some really ballsy corners which – mixed with the technicalities of the Complex – produces some brilliant racing. Tyre wear and performance drop-off is always an issue and I'm looking forward to learning more about managing the Dunlops in a front-wheel drive car, which uses its tyres more aggressively than the RWD format I’m used to. That will be the key to our results this weekend.”