Giovanardi leads Thruxton practice

The 41-year-old Vauxhall driver, who claimed last year's title at the Hampshire circuit, set his best time in the first of two sessions during the morning, having his run interrupted by a left-front puncture on his Vauxhall Vectra.

Things were not quite so good for the Italian in the second session, though, as his best time was over three quarters of a second slower, making him one of only five drivers not to improve on their earlier mark.

Tom Chilton set the pace in the second session in his Team Halfords Honda, although his time of 1:18.883 failed to usurp Giovanardi from the top spot overall by just over two hundredths of a second.

Third fastest overall, despite a puncture in the second session, was Chilton's team-mate Gordon Shedden.

Mat Jackson could only manage the 13th best time in the opening session, but the BMW Dealer Team UK driver found a second later on to jump up to fourth overall.

Darren Turner was the best of the SEAT drivers in fifth, while his team-mate Jason Plato was down in ninth on combined times.

There were a number of incidents throughout the morning. Matt Neal spun his Vauxhall at the Club chicane in the second session, with Shedden cutting the corner in order to give Neal plenty of room to re-join.

There was a scary spin for Harry Vaulkhard, who lost control of his Robertshaw Chevrolet while warming up his tyres at Goodwood and gyrated at least three times.

Chris Stockton damaged his BTC SEAT's radiator with a high-speed off at Church corner in the opening session, while Steven Kane's Motorbase BMW failed to complete a flying lap due to a power steering failure. Both cars were repaired in time for the second session.

Session 1

Pos Driver                 Car           Time         Gap
 1. Fabrizio Giovanardi    Vauxhall      1:18.359
 2. Tom Chilton            Honda         1:18.594  +0.235
 3. Tom Onslow-Cole        Vauxhall      1:18.816  +0.457
 4. Darren Turner          SEAT          1:18.836  +0.477
 5. Colin Turkington       BMW           1:19.027  +0.668
 6. Gordon Shedden         Honda         1:19.085  +0.726
 7. Jason Plato            SEAT          1:19.145  +0.786
 8. Andrew Jordan          Honda         1:19.149  +0.790
 9. Matt Neal              Vauxhall      1:19.314  +0.955
10. Mike Jordan            Honda         1:19.434  +1.075
11. Mat Jackson            BMW           1:19.506  +1.147
12. Adam Jones             SEAT          1:19.821  +1.462
13. Stephen Jelley         BMW           1:20.218  +1.859
14. Harry Vaulkhard        Chevrolet     1:20.399  +2.040
15. Jason Hughes           Honda         1:20.582  +2.223
16. Erkut Kizilirmak       Vauxhall      1:20.969  +2.610
17. Gareth Howell          SEAT          1:20.980  +2.621
18. Chris Stockton         SEAT          1:21.229  +2.870
19. Rob Collard            BMW           1:21.295  +2.936
20. Michael Doyle          Honda         1:21.514  +3.155
21. Alan Taylor            Honda         1:21.600  +3.241
22. Martyn Bell            Vauxhall      1:22.547  +4.188
23. John George            Honda         1:23.644  +5.285

Session 2

Pos Driver                 Car           Time         Gap
 1. Tom Chilton            Honda         1:18.383
 2. Gordon Shedden         Honda         1:18.516  +0.133
 3. Mat Jackson            BMW           1:18.622  +0.239
 4. Darren Turner          SEAT          1:18.693  +0.310
 5. Tom Onslow-Cole        Vauxhall      1:18.703  +0.320
 6. Colin Turkington       BMW           1:18.779  +0.396
 7. Matt Neal              Vauxhall      1:18.956  +0.573
 8. Jason Plato            SEAT          1:19.004  +0.621
 9. Andrew Jordan          Honda         1:19.140  +0.757
10. Adam Jones             SEAT          1:19.164  +0.781
11. Fabrizio Giovanardi    Vauxhall      1:19.186  +0.803
12. Stephen Jelley         BMW           1:19.203  +0.820
13. Steven Kane            BMW           1:19.707  +1.324
14. Mike Jordan            Honda         1:19.750  +1.367
15. Gareth Howell          SEAT          1:20.224  +1.841
16. Jason Hughes           Honda         1:20.412  +2.029
17. John George            Honda         1:20.441  +2.058
18. Harry Vaulkhard        Chevrolet     1:20.512  +2.129
19. Rob Collard            BMW           1:20.648  +2.265
20. Erkut Kizilirmak       Vauxhall      1:20.756  +2.373
21. Chris Stockton         SEAT          1:20.966  +2.583
22. Martyn Bell            Vauxhall      1:21.342  +2.959
23. Alan Taylor            Honda         1:21.616  +3.233
24. Michael Doyle          Honda         1:22.579  +4.196