British Touring Car Championship
Silverstone - Free Practice - 28/9/13
By MJP Media | 28 September 2013
Jason Plato and Dave Newsham top the time sheets in free practice at Silverstone as the Honda Civics and BMW 125i M Sports struggle around the National circuit.
Jason Plato was fastest in the first practice session
With just 2 meetings left on the calendar, Silverstone provides the venue for the penultimate outing of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan arrives at the Northamptonshire circuit at the top of the championship standings having taken the lead last time out at Rockingham.
After exchanging the lead several times, Jason Plato topped the time sheet in the first of the two free practice sessions in his MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 ahead of Dave Newsham in the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis. Defending champion Gordon Shedden was the fastest of the Hondas in 3rd place ahead of the Dynojet Toyota Avensis of Frank Wrathall.
Dave Newsham topped the time sheet in the second session
Tom Onslow-Cole in the Airwaves Racing Ford Focus was 5th fastest with reigning Independent Champion Andrew Jordan rounding out the top 6. Matt Neal, who was suffering with an injured hand, was 7th fastest for Honda Yuasa Racing. There were several black flags shown to drivers including Gordon Shedden and Adam Morgan for exceeding the track limits during the session.
In the second free practice session, Toyotas topped the time sheet with Dave Newsham repeating his performance at Rockingham by taking the top spot in his Speedworks Motorsport Avensis. Just over two hundredths of a second behind Newsham was the Dynojet Avensis of Frank Wrathall with Sam Tordoff's MG6 3rd for MG KX Momentum Racing.
Frank Wrathall in the Dynojet Toyota Avensis
Adam Morgan did well to end the session 4th fastest in his Ciceley Racing Toyota Avensis ahead of Jason Plato's MG6. Also performing well was Warren Scott in the Team BMR Restart Volkswagen Passat CC who ended the session 6th fastest and the RCIB Insurance Racing Vauxhall Insignias of Howard Fuller and Jack Goff who were 8th and 9th fastest respectively. The Honda Civics struggled around the Silverstone National circuit with Honda Yuasa Racing team-mates Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden 7th and 12th fastest and Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan and Jeff Smith 14th and 15th.
Also struggling were Rockingham race winner Rob Austin who finished 16th in the WIX Racing Audi A4 and the eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sports which ended the session 18th, 19th and 22nd. The next action on track from Silverstone is the qualifying session this afternoon for the first race tomorrow and with pole position, the first championship point of the weekend.
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