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Autosport
Autosport
Sport
Marcus Simmons

BTCC Silverstone: Hill bats off Vauxhalls for free practice honours

One of four drivers in contention for the title, Hill set the fastest time in the early-morning session aboard his West Surrey Racing BMW 330e M Sport.

Hill was a monstrous 0.273 seconds clear of the opposition around the National Circuit in FP1, and set three laps quicker than the best anyone else managed.

His 57.622s from that running could not be dislodged in FP2, although some came very close.

Hill himself sat atop the times in that lunchtime session before Aron Taylor-Smith went quicker in his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra with a 57.732s.

The Irish veteran, who had gone third in the opening session, looked set to earn bragging rights in FP2, before his team-mate Andrew Watson went faster still on the final lap.

The Northern Irishman’s 57.633s fell just 0.011s short of Hill’s earlier best, and he and Taylor-Smith completed what PMR team principal Adam Weaver reckons is the team’s first 1-2 in a BTCC session.

Hill was demoted to fourth in FP2 by reigning champion Tom Ingram’s Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N, but was happy with progress.

“The car’s feeling great today,” Hill told Autosport. “We’re off to a really good start, with no massive changes – we’re just seeing if we can get a bit more out of it.

“I know Watson went quickest in FP2 but there were no new tyres for ourselves – I’m pretty confident we’ll be there in quali.”

Ingram’s last-gasp improvement finally put his rookie Excelr8 Hyundai team-mate Ronan Pearson in the shade.

Árón Taylor-Smith, CarStore Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra (Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images)

The Scottish youngster, who is part of a ferocious five-way Jack Sears Trophy title battle, celebrated his confirmation on Friday with Excelr8 for two more seasons by going second quickest in FP1, and then he went a mite quicker later en route to fifth in FP2.

All the other top 10 times overall were set in FP2, with Colin Turkington making it three of the overall title contenders in the top six at the wheel of his WSR BMW.

Mikey Doble completed the PMR Vauxhall joy by lapping seventh fastest – he was fourth, just behind Taylor-Smith, in FP1 – with Dan Cammish eighth at the wheel of the top Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST.

Cammish is at the wheel of the spare Focus, following his massive shunt in free practice last time out at Donington Park.

Rory Butcher was ninth fastest in his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla, with the WSR BMW of Adam Morgan completing the top 10.

Championship leader Ash Sutton languished down the times in his Motorbase Ford. He was sixth in FP1 but went slower later on, when he was 21st.

BTCC Silverstone practice results

 
 
     
Driver Info
 
 
Cla Driver # Car Laps Time Interval km/h
1 United Kingdom A. Watson CarStore Power Maxed Racing 11 Vauxhall Astra 19 57.633   102.466
2 Ireland A. Taylor-Smith CarStore Power Maxed Racing 40 Vauxhall Astra 21 +0.099 0.099 102.291
3 United Kingdom T. Ingram BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 1 Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance 20 +0.132 0.033 102.232
4 United Kingdom J. Hill Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport 24 BMW 330e M Sport 20 +0.172 0.040 102.161
5
R. Pearson BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8
14 Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance 27 +0.189 0.017 102.131
6 United Kingdom C. Turkington Team BMW 4 BMW 330e M Sport 27 +0.275 0.086 101.980
7
M. Doble CarStore Power Maxed Racing
88 Vauxhall Astra 21 +0.289 0.014 101.955
8 United Kingdom D. Cammish NAPA Racing UK 27 Ford Focus ST 20 +0.291 0.002 101.952
9 United Kingdom R. Butcher Toyota Gazoo Racing UK 6 Toyota Corolla GR Sport 24 +0.303 0.012 101.930
10 United Kingdom A. Morgan Team BMW 33 BMW 330e M Sport 23 +0.339 0.036 101.867
11 United Kingdom D. Rowbottom NAPA Racing UK 32 Ford Focus ST 19 +0.395 0.056 101.769
12 United Kingdom S. Jelley Team BMW 12 BMW 330e M Sport 23 +0.428 0.033 101.711
13 United Kingdom R. Collard Toyota Gazoo Racing UK 37 Toyota Corolla GR Sport 21 +0.428 0.000 101.711
14 United Kingdom T. Chilton BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 3 Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance 23 +0.486 0.058 101.609
15
B. Thompson Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown
19 Cupra León 23 +0.489 0.003 101.604
16
G. Gamble Toyota Gazoo Racing UK
42 Toyota Corolla GR Sport 27 +0.507 0.018 101.573
17 United Kingdom D. Lloyd Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils 123 Cupra León 23 +0.565 0.058 101.472
18
D. Patterson Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.
17 Cupra León 24 +0.585 0.020 101.437
19 United Kingdom S. Osborne NAPA Racing UK 77 Ford Focus ST 22 +0.586 0.001 101.435
20 United Kingdom J. Cook One Motorsport with Starline Racing 66 Honda Civic Type R 14 +0.609 0.023 101.395
21 United Kingdom A. Sutton NAPA Racing UK 116 Ford Focus ST 22 +0.636 0.027 101.348
22
N. Halstead BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8
22 Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance 23 +0.675 0.039 101.280
23 United Kingdom A. Moffat One Motorsport with Starline Racing 16 Honda Civic Type R 22 +0.770 0.095 101.115
24
J. Butel Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown
96 Cupra León 20 +0.937 0.167 100.827
25
D. De Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.
18 Cupra León 25 +1.058 0.121 100.619
26
J. Edwards Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.
99 Cupra León 14 +1.129 0.071 100.498
27
M. Crees Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils
777 Cupra León 10 +1.410 0.281 100.019
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