Shedden edges Neal in wet first BTCC practice at Thruxton
Gordon Shedden topped a wet first British Touring Car free practice session at Thruxton this morning
Mat Jackson's Motorbase Ford Focus set the pace early on before Jason Plato (works MG6), Shedden and his Honda team-mate Matt Neal all took it in turns to top the times.
Neal set a sequence of 1m22s before Shedden recorded a 1m20.968s half-way through the session to put him a second clear of the field.
Neal's best of 1m22.020s was still good enough for second, just ahead of Plato's quickest effort. It meant the top three places were taken by the only models not to have been given a turbo boost increase for the weekend by the organisers.
Rob Collard was the top rear-wheel-drive runner in fourth with his WSR BMW.
Andrew Jordan was fifth in Eurotech's NGTC Honda Civic, despite starting the session late while the alternator was changed and the car breaking down just after he recorded a 1m23.343s.
Jordan's team-mate Jeff Smith was sixth, after causing the session's only red flag with an off at the chicane, just ahead of BTCC rookie Adam Morgan in his Speedworks Toyota Avensis.
Brands Hatch polesitter Dave Newsham (ES Racing Vauxhall Vectra) was next, ahead of Jackson, while Lea Wood's Vectra rounded out the top 10.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Gordon Shedden Dynamics Honda 1m20.968s 2. Matt Neal Dynamics Honda 1m22.020s + 1.052s 3. Jason Plato Triple 8 MG 1m22.038s + 1.070s 4. Rob Collard WSR BMW 1m22.884s + 1.916s 5. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Honda 1m23.343s + 2.375s 6. Jeff Smith Eurotech Honda 1m23.378s + 2.410s 7. Adam Morgan Speedworks Toyota 1m23.734s + 2.766s 8. Dave Newsham ES Vauxhall 1m23.867s + 2.899s 9. Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 1m24.075s + 3.107s 10. Lea Wood Wood Vauxhall 1m24.199s + 3.231s 11. Daniel Welch Welch Proton 1m24.641s + 3.673s 12. Liam Griffin Motorbase Ford 1m24.858s + 3.890s 13. Tom Onslow-Cole WSR BMW 1m24.896s + 3.928s 14. Aron Smith Motorbase Ford 1m25.236s + 4.268s 15. Tony Gilham Gilham Honda 1m25.528s + 4.560s 16. Ollie Jackson AmD Volkswagen 1m25.549s + 4.581s 17. Chris James ES Vauxhall 1m26.134s + 5.166s 18. Frank Wrathall Dynojet Toyota 1m26.563s + 5.595s 19. Nick Foster WSR BMW 1m26.859s + 5.891s 20. Tony Hughes Speedworks Toyota 1m28.004s + 7.036 21. Andy Neate Triple 8 MG
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