Defending BTCC Champion, Gordon Shedden had been relatively subdued before free practice two at Knockhill began; that trend looked all set to continue as he languished in 17th place with only half the session remaining.
eBay Motors trio Colin Turkington, Nick Forster and Rob Collard had set the early pace before Jason Plato blasted his way to an incredible 52.995 second lap; inside the all-time lap record pace set by Tom Chilton in 2011. Plato stayed there for a large proportion of the session before eventually being overhauled by a sensational lap from Shedden of 52.846 seconds. Matt Neal and Andrew Jordon would also surpass Platos’s time to lock out the top three slots on the times for Honda machinery.
Toyota Avensis racer, Adam Morgan had been showing consistent form all day before overtaking his counterparts with a sublime 52.700 second lap. In all, six of the BTCC’s leading drivers dipped into the 52 second time-frame, setting up what promises to be a dramatic qualifying session later today.
Shedden, though, not to be out done on his home turf, posted another fast lap to jump back to the top of the times; and now, becomes the quickest driver to navigate the Knockhill Circuit in a British Touring Car. That record however, will likely last all of two hours, with times set to tumble during a qualification session that will see temperatures increase to 18 degrees.
Qualifying will be live on the ITV website from 3pm onwards, simply log on to www.itv.com/btcc to see all the action.
The top ten in FP2 were as follows: Shedden, Morgan, Plato, Jordan, Neal, Tordoff, Onslow-Cole, Wrathall and continuing his fine form, Rob Austin.
There were also some woes on track for some of the BTCC competitors. Young, Aiden Moffat blew an engine in his Chevrolet Cruze and barring a minor miracle; his weekend could already be over. Dave Newsham and his Speedworks team have been blighted with suspension issues, which forced the Inverness racer to sit our FP2.
Tickets for this Sunday’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship can be purchased in advance via the Knockhill website. Tickets can also be purchased at the gate all weekend. Check our our spectator and event information blog – packed with useful info about this weekend.