Dan Cammish topped the timesheets at the first opportunity at Snetterton, leading the British Touring Car Championship pack in an extended one-hour session.
The 2.97-mile circuit looks a formidable foe for the grid in the scorching Norfolk sun, as in-car temperatures reached 60℃ and drivers used leaf blowers to cool down in the pits.
The session started slowly as drivers completed their typical in-out-in runs to scrub tyres, with Lewis Selby and James Dorlin the only runners setting times on mediums.
Josh Cook and Árón Taylor-Smith pipped them on softs, though still yet to set a representative time. While the Corolla may not have the straight line speed required for Snetterton, Taylor-Smith will certainly be hoping to continue his Brands Hatch heroics.
Tom Chilton soon joined them at the top, as times started to creep towards expectations and drivers headed out for proper runs.
Dan Cammish and Ash Sutton bested them, breaking into the mid-1:55s, as all bar Gordon Shedden and Tom Ingram set times.
Chris Smiley and Adam Morgan also nudged their cars inside the top handful, though all drivers were taking things easy. Ingram’s second timed lap launched his Hyundai up towards the top on mediums.
Gordon Shedden pipped fellow slow-starter Ingram with a 1:56.659 on softs, with Snetterton being a particularly fruitful circuit for him in the past.
With 15 minutes to go, the session was red-flagged due to marker boards being nudged towards the inside kerb of Murray’s.
As is the nature of Free Practice, the clock did not stop – losing valuable time for all teams. However, with 11 minutes left, the session resumed.
Dexter Patterson was the biggest improver with minutes to go, as he jumped to P4. Nicolas Hamilton also improved to P13, while times fell across the grid.
Daryl De Leon’s session ended early with a black flag for track limits, as Patterson improved again to P2 before Ingram rose 13 places to go ahead of him.
Cammish then improved his time to solidify his first place, setting himself two tenths ahead of Ingram. In promising news for Plato Racing, Dan Rowbottom put himself in P4 with a 1:55.609.
At the flag, it was Cammish who held P1, followed by Ingram, Chilton, Patterson, and Rowbottom. Sutton followed behind, with Smiley, Shedden, Aiden Moffat and James Dorlin rounding out the fastest 10.
Elsewhere, Mikey Doble finished P14 with De Leon 16th. Ricky Collard placed P17, with Taylor-Smith only P20 – but on mediums.
BTCC Snetterton: Free Practice Results
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dan Cammish | NAPA Racing UK | 1:55.066 | |
| 2. | Tom Ingram | Team VERTU | +0.325 | |
| 3. | Tom Chilton | Team VERTU | +0.368 | |
| 4. | Dexter Patterson | Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing | +0.428 | |
| 5. | Daniel Rowbottom | Cataclean Plato Racing | +0.543 | |
| 6. | Ashley Sutton | NAPA Racing UK | +0.580 | |
| 7. | Chris Smiley | Restart Racing | +0.612 | |
| 8. | Gordon Shedden | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | +0.676 | |
| 9. | Aiden Moffat | LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing | +0.733 | |
| 10. | James Dorlin | Restart Racing | +0.998 | |
| 11. | Adam Morgan | Cataclean Plato Racing | +1.029 | |
| 12. | Charles Rainford | WSR | +1.161 | |
| 13. | Sam Osborne | NAPA Racing UK | +1.215 | |
| 14. | Mikey Doble | LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing | +1.246 | |
| 15. | Lewis Selby | NAPA Racing UK | +1.487 | |
| 16. | Daryl De Leon | WSR | +1.503 | |
| 17. | Ricky Collard | Team VERTU | +1.505 | |
| 18. | Nicolas Hamilton | Team VERTU | +1.685 | |
| 19. | Josh Cook | Speedworks Corolla Racing | +1.839 | |
| 20. | Árón Taylor-Smith | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | +2.088 | |
| 21. | Max Buxton | Speedworks Corolla Racing | +3.678 |
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