Practice: Muller leads the way

Yvan Muller was quickest, but not taking his status too seriously. "It's just free practice, tomorrow we will see the real situation," said the French ace.

All was not entirely straightforward for the Triple Eight squad. After James Thompson and Matt Neal suffered tyre deflations in session one, all four drivers refrained from attacking the Dingle Dell kerbs in session two and were slightly slower as a consequence. "It's slower, but I'm not sure how much," said Muller, "and it's a shame, because when you really fly there, that's exciting."

MG's Warren Hughes was best of the rest, but still making major set-up changes as he sought to dial the ZS in. "It's only so-so, at the moment," he admitted. The latest MG engine wasn't running cleanly either, the mapping not yet right.

Tom Chilton continues to impress, the 17-year-old Barwell Motorsport driver fifth fastest, despite having to abort a new-tyre hot lap. David Leslie had the Proton running well in session one, but both Impians hit gear selection problems and consequent over-revving in session two.

The crashing came from the Production boys. Session one was stopped after 25 of the scheduled 40 minutes when Norman Simon, then quickest in class, suffered a rear suspension bolt breakage and crashed his Edenbridge BMW at Dingle Dell.

Session two was suspended when Jim Edwards Jr rolled his Team B&Q Jet York City Honda Accord at Paddock. Neither was hurt and both should be out for qualifying on Sunday, though the Edenbridge BMW squad is having stronger bolts made, as its second car, driven by Tom Boardman suffered the same problem, without crashing.

Mark Fullalove was quickest in his Tech-Speed Peugeot, with a gang of rivals including the BMWs, Alfas and Honda Accords shaping up to challenge.


Yvan Muller (Vauxhall Astra Coupe) 1m33.333s 101.16mph
James Thompson (Vauxhall Astra Coupe) 1m33.564s, 100.91mph
Matt Neal (Vauxhall Astra Coupe), 1m33.717s, 100.75mph
Warren Hughes (MG ZS) 1m34.405s 100.01mph
Tom Chilton (Vauxhall Astra Coupe) 1m34.492s 99.92mph
Anthony Reid (MG ZS) 1m34.542s 99.87mph
David Leslie (Proton Impian) 1m34.617s 99.79mph
Paul O'Neill (Vauxhall Astra Coupe) 1m34.665s, 99.74mph
Dan Eaves (Peugeot 406 Coupe) 1m34.740s 99.66mph
Andy Priaulx (Honda Civic) 1m34.874s 99.52mph


Mark Fullalove (Peugeot 306) 1m39.369s 95.02mph
Graham Saunders Alfa Romeo 156 1m39.921s 94.49mph
Spencer Marsh (Honda Accord), 1m40.002s 94.41mph