RML dominates wet free practice

After missing out to Jackson in the morning session, Plato moved to the top of the timesheets with 10 minutes of a drier, but still damp, afternoon session with a time in the low 54-second bracket.

Despite being knocked off the top spot in the final minute by the Clyde Valley Racing SEAT of local hero Gordon Shedden, the 2001 champion still had time in reserve, and put himself back in the top spot on his final flying lap with a time of 54.184s - three thousandths of a second quicker than Shedden.

Neither of Vauxhall's title contenders bothered leaving the pits until track conditions were at their best in the second half of the session. Matt Neal managed the third best time with Fabrizio Giovanardi sixth.

Between the two were Motorbase BMW Jonathan Adam - making it two Scotsmen in the top four - and the WSR-run version of championship leader Colin Turkington.

Jackson, whose pace-setting lap in the first session was around four seconds off the ultimate pace, was seventh quickest overall as every driver improved their time in the afternoon.

Behind him were James Thompson (Team Dynamics Honda), Andre Jordan (Vauxhall) and Rob Collard (Motorbase BMW), while Tom Chilton, 11th quickest, had his most competitive runs of the season so far in the Arena Ford Focus.

Chilton had been only three tenths of a second off the pace in FP1 and was under a second from Plato's time in FP2, Arena's change of engine tuner over the summer clearly bearing fruit already.

Both Paul O'Neill and John George suffered though. In FP1, O'Neill damaged his Tech-Speed Honda's front splitter when he ran wide at Butcher's. George, meanwhile, lost control of his TH Motorspor-run version and backed it into the tyres at the exit of the chicane.

Practice 1
Pos Driver                 Car               Time     Gap    
 1. Mat Jackson            Chevrolet      59.076s
 2. Jason Plato            Chevrolet      59.149s  +0.073
 3. Jonathan Adam          BMW            59.270s  +0.194
 4. Matt Neal              Vauxhall       59.288s  +0.212
 5. Rob Collard            BMW            59.349s  +0.273
 6. Gordon Shedden         SEAT           59.353s  +0.277
 7. Tom Chilton            Ford           59.460s  +0.384
 8. Fabrizio Giovanardi    Vauxhall       59.465s  +0.389
 9. James Thompson         Honda          59.507s  +0.431
10. Colin Turkington       BMW            59.579s  +0.503
11. Andrew Jordan          Vauxhall       59.718s  +0.642
12. Martin Johnson         Vauxhall       59.909s  +0.833
13. Stephen Jelley         BMW            59.939s  +0.863
14. Harry Vaulkhard        Chevrolet    1m00.282s  +1.206
15. Paul O'Neill           Honda        1m00.443s  +1.367
16. David Pinkney          Honda        1m00.553s  +1.477
17. John George            Honda        1m02.919s  +3.843

Practice 2
Pos Driver                 Car               Time     Gap    
 1. Jason Plato            Chevrolet      54.184s
 2. Gordon Shedden         SEAT           54.187s  +0.003
 3. Matt Neal              Vauxhall       54.438s  +0.254
 4. Jonathan Adam          BMW            54.465s  +0.281
 5. Colin Turkington       BMW            54.469s  +0.285
 6. F.Giovanardi           Vauxhall       54.669s  +0.485
 7. Mat Jackson            Chevrolet      54.695s  +0.511
 8. James Thompson         Honda          54.713s  +0.529
 9. Andrew Jordan          Vauxhall       54.813s  +0.629
10. Rob Collard            BMW            54.831s  +0.647
11. Tom Chilton            Ford           55.050s  +0.866
12. Harry Vaulkhard        Chevrolet      55.157s  +0.973
13. Paul O'Neill           Honda          55.379s  +1.195
14. David Pinkney          Honda          55.637s  +1.453
15. Martin Johnson         Vauxhall       56.367s  +2.183
16. John George            Honda          56.893s  +2.709
17. Stephen Jelley         BMW            58.721s  +4.537