The Latest Breaking News from Daniel Rowbottom

Two-time British Touring Car Championship race winner Dan Rowbottom has committed to the Alliance Racing-run NAPA Ford Focus squad for two more seasons - after receiving open heart surgery at the end of last year.

Dubliner Taylor-Smith stamped in a late effort in the cooler conditions of the first session to top the times at the wheel of his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra on a 47.905s.

Ingram set the fastest lap of the early-morning FP1 period in his Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N, 0.022 seconds clear of the Motorbase Performance-run Ford Focus ST of championship leader Ash Sutton.

After suffering a delaminated tyre in race one, Rowbottom had battled his Motorbase Performance-run Ford Focus ST from the back of the grid to 11th on the road in the sequel.

After the second of two red-flag stoppages, Sutton slashed a huge chunk off his early ‘banker lap’ to beat the 2019 qualifying lap record held by Tom Ingram.

The three-time champion demolished his opposition at the wheel of his Motorbase Performance-run Ford Focus ST to lead a team 1-2 from Dan Cammish by 0.666 seconds.

Turkington, with the soft option tyres fitted to his West Surrey Racing BMW 330e M Sport, got the launch from second on the grid, but the problem was he had to do it twice.

The Yorkshireman made the most of being gifted the reversed-grid pole position, and led from lights to flag in wet conditions at the wheel of his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST.

The Northern Irishman eclipsed the quickest time of the opening session set by Ash Sutton, which had been a gargantuan 0.476 seconds clear of closest pursuer Turkington and had seemed to send out an ominous warning that the three-time title winner and the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus squad will be…