Drivers flock to Snetterton test

With neither the factory Vauxhall nor SEAT teams present at the Norfolk circuit, it was the turn of the chasing pack to take centre stage, with Mat Jackson in particular racking up the miles in the BMW 320is that Andy Priaulx ran to last year's WTCC title.

Although no times were officially released, Jackson is believed to have been among the pace-setters in his family-run machine.

In total 12 cars were on track in conditions that started damp and, save for a brief period of sunshine in the early afternoon, got worse as the day wore on.

Among the squads present were Team RAC, who had one of their 320i machines on hand. Lead driver Colin Turkington and series newcomer Stephen Jelley both had a stint behind the wheel.

Team boss Dick Bennetts told autosport.com: "The weather was pretty bad, so it really prevented Stephen from going for laptimes, but it was good experience for him to drive a touring car in the conditions.

"We just had the one car. Colin gave it a quick shakedown in the morning to establish a set-up, and Stephen ran the rest of the day.

"To be honest, he's done pretty well in moving from Formula Three to BTCC so far and we¹re not comparing him to Colin just yet. There's no point to doing it."

Martyn Bell had his first run in a front-wheel drive car for 11 years in his Arkas Motorsport Vauxhall Astra, while Team Halfords were out in force with Gordon Shedden and new signing Tom Chilton in their Honda Civics.

Andrew Jordan continued his BTCC apprenticeship in his John Guest Honda Integra while his father and teammate Mike also had a run.