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Silverstone BTCC: Jason Plato leads the way in practice

MG's Jason Plato set the quickest time in free practice ahead of round nine of the British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone

In the opening 40-minute session, Plato lapped the National Circuit layout in 58.498s in his Triple Eight-built MG6.

That was 0.118s quicker than Dave Newsham's Speedworks-run Toyota Avensis, and Newsham then went on to top the second session in the afternoon, lapping in 58.694s.

"I didn't expect this," said Newsham. "We've got a different set-up, way different than before, and it's mega. Short runs, long runs, the lot. It's a bit on a knife-edge, but we've dialled that out as the day's gone on. Its really nice to drive now."

Frank Wrathall was second fastest in the afternoon, the third-quickest lap of the day in his Dynojet-run Toyota.

Reigning champion Gordon Shedden was third fastest in the morning, despite a black flag to tick him off for exceeding track limits - one of three such penalties handed out in the first session, as cars took too much apex and ran too wide at Copse Corner.

Sam Tordoff was third fastest in the afternoon, ahead of Adam Morgan (Toyota) and Plato. Tom Onslow-Cole was fifth fastest in his Motorbase Ford in the morning, but admitted to struggling with his Focus's handling.

Matt Neal, driving with a broken finger, was seventh fastest in both sessions in his Honda. Championship leader Andrew Jordan was sixth and 14th in the two sessions, and said of his pace: "It's better than I thought it would be."


Practice one

Pos Driver              Car                  Time         Gap    Laps
 1. Jason Plato         MG                   58.498s		   20
 2. Dave Newsham        Speedworks Toyota    58.616s	  +0.118s  25
 3. Gordon Shedden      Honda                58.915s	  +0.417s  30
 4. Frank Wrathall      Dynojet Toyota       58.936s	  +0.438s  28
 5. Tom Onslow-Cole     Motorbase Ford       58.945s	  +0.447s  15
 6. Andrew Jordan       Eurotech Honda       58.978s	  +0.480s  26
 7. Matt Neal           Honda                58.980s	  +0.482s  23
 8. Sam Tordoff         MG                   59.088s	  +0.590s  22
 9. Colin Turkington    WSR BMW              59.095s	  +0.597s  24
10. Adam Morgan         Ciceley Toyota       59.223s	  +0.725s  26
11. Jeff Smith          Eurotech Honda       59.249s	  +0.751s  27
12. Howard Fuller       Hard Volkswagen      59.345s	  +0.847s  28
13. Ollie Jackson       Speedworks Toyota    59.350s	  +0.852s  23
14. Warren Scott        BMR Volkswagen       59.356s	  +0.858s  14
15. Mat Jackson         Motorbase Ford       59.394s	  +0.896s  25
16. Rob Austin          Austin Audi          59.474s	  +0.976s  25
17. Andy Neate          IP Tech Chevrolet    59.504s	  +1.006s  23
18. Will Bratt          Austin Audi          59.602s	  +1.104s  25
19. Aron Smith          Motorbase Ford       59.634s	  +1.136s  23
20. Jack Goff           Hard Vauxhall        59.673s	  +1.175s  22
21. Daniel Welch        Welch Proton         59.732s	  +1.234s  20
22. Rob Collard         WSR BMW              59.736s	  +1.238s  23
23. Nick Foster         WSR BMW              1m00.054s    +1.556s  24
24. Lea Wood            Wood Vauxhall        1m00.220s    +1.722s  25
25. Liam Griffin        Motorbase Ford       1m00.590s    +2.092s  28
26. Aiden Moffat        Hard Volkswagen      1m01.424s    +2.926s  24

Practice two

Pos Driver              Car                  Time        Gap    Laps
 1. Dave Newsham        Speedworks Toyota    58.694s   	          30
 2. Frank Wrathall      Dynojet Toyota       58.715s    +0.021s  22
 3. Sam Tordoff         MG                   58.864s    +0.170s  24
 4. Adam Morgan         Ciceley Toyota       58.908s    +0.214s  26
 5. Jason Plato         MG                   58.966s    +0.272s  24
 6. Warren Scott        BMR Volkswagen       59.082s    +0.388s  30
 7. Matt Neal           Honda                59.108s    +0.414s  25
 8. Howard Fuller       Hard Volkswagen      59.267s    +0.573s  23
 9. Jack Goff           Hard Vauxhall        59.276s    +0.582s  25
10. Daniel Welch        Welch Proton         59.309s    +0.615s  31
11. Aron Smith          Motorbase Ford       59.338s    +0.644s  19
12. Gordon Shedden      Honda                59.360s    +0.666s  22
13. Ollie Jackson       Speedworks Toyota    59.404s    +0.710s  22
14. Andrew Jordan       Eurotech Honda       59.419s    +0.725s  25
15. Jeff Smith          Eurotech Honda       59.420s    +0.726s  26
16. Rob Austin          Austin Audi          59.432s    +0.738s  26
17. Mat Jackson         Motorbase Ford       59.527s    +0.833s  26
18. Rob Collard         WSR BMW              59.688s    +0.994s  23
19. Colin Turkington    WSR BMW              59.981s    +1.287s  18
20. Tom Onslow-Cole     Motorbase Ford       59.987s    +1.293s  13
21. Will Bratt          Austin Audi          1m00.057s	+1.363s  26
22. Nick Foster         WSR BMW              1m00.142s	+1.448s  26
23. Lea Wood            Wood Vauxhall        1m00.368s	+1.674s  30
24. Liam Griffin        Motorbase Ford       1m00.381s	+1.687s  31
25. Andy Neate          IP Tech Chevrolet    1m00.488s	+1.794s  9
26. Aiden Moffat        Hard Volkswagen      1m00.814s	+2.120s  26


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