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Chilton tops Brands Hatch practice

Tom Chilton topped the timesheets in practice for the final round of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch

The Team Halfords driver lapped the 1.2-mile Indy circuit in 49.173 in the morning session in his Honda Civic - a time which would remain unbeaten as temperatures rose from 11 to 16 degrees by the early afternoon session.

It was another Tom, Vauxhall's Onslow-Cole, who set the pace in that second session, and it was he who challenged Chilton closest, ending up just six hundredths of a second slower than his rival.

However, with conditions in qualifying likely to be far more similar to those in second practice, Onslow-Cole looks to be the man to beat later this afternoon.

Gordon Shedden made it a brilliant morning for Team Halfords with the third best time while Independent title protagonists Colin Turkington and Mat Jackson were next up in their BMWs, run by Team RAC and BMW Dealer Team UK respectively.

Darren Turner was the best SEAT driver in sixth while champion-elect Fabrizio Giovanardi was one place further back in his Vauxhall.

SEAT's Jason Plato - the only man who can stop Giovanardi from winning a second straight BTCC title - was 11th fastest overall, and lost track time in the opening session due to a power steering fluid leak.

A suspension problem caused a similar time loss for Adam Jones while Erkut Kizilirmak fared even worse.

Switching cars from his regular Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch to an ex-Yvan Muller Astra Coupe for what is his last BTCC race before taking a year out, he managed just two installation laps before the car's engine suffered a compression problem.

With the car unable to be repaired, the Arkas Racing team headed back to their base to collect the second Sport Hatch, which the Turkish driver will attempt to race on Sunday.

Second practice was interrupted by two red flags, the first when a wheelnut was shed at Clearways and the second when Chris Stockton went off at Druids. Stockton's incident, two minutes from the end, brought out a premature chequered flag.

Pos Driver                 Team          Time       Gap  
 1. Tom Chilton            Honda         49.173
 2. Tom Onslow-Cole        Vauxhall      49.230  +0.057
 3. Gordon Shedden         Honda         49.312  +0.139
 4. Colin Turkington       BMW           49.336  +0.163
 5. Mat Jackson            BMW           49.370  +0.197
 6. Darren Turner          SEAT          49.386  +0.213
 7. Fabrizio Giovanardi    Vauxhall      49.391  +0.218
 8. Stephen Jelley         BMW           49.404  +0.231
 9. Matt Neal              Vauxhall      49.448  +0.275
10. Rob Collard            BMW           49.450  +0.277
11. Jason Plato            SEAT          49.579  +0.406
12. Steven Kane            BMW           49.582  +0.409
13. Adam Jones             SEAT          49.608  +0.435
14. Mike Jordan            Honda         49.874  +0.701
15. Andrew Jordan          Honda         49.876  +0.703
16. John George            Honda         50.061  +0.888
17. Harry Vaulkhard        Chevrolet     50.143  +0.970
18. Michael Doyle          Honda         50.293  +1.120
19. Jason Hughes           Honda         50.160  +1.309
20. Chris Stockton         SEAT          50.569  +1.396
21. Martyn Bell            Vauxhall      50.724  +1.551
22. Alan Taylor            Honda         51.027  +1.946
23. Erkut Kizilirmak       Vauxhall      no time

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