Tom Ingram emerged from a busy and frantic free practice session for the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship as the fastest driver. Despite a damp start to the session, slick tyres were the order of the day towards the end of the 40 minute session; with times tumbling hand over fist as the minutes ticked away.
In the early stages it was the Subarus of Ash Sutton and Jason Plato who made the early running. Plato of course who famously won his 500th career race at Knockhill last year and comes into this with no weight and a rear-wheel-drive car that everyone is tipping to go well. Time will tell if the BTCC veteran can amass the same kind of points haul he secured last year at Knockhill – his best of the 2016 season.
Scottish drivers faired well in the opening stages with Moffat, Butcher and Shedden all inside the top five. However, as the track began to dry there were multiple movers with Jack Goff, Mat Jackson, Dave Newsham and James Cole all peppering the top of the time sheets.
Ultimately though, it was Ingram; who needs a strong weekend at Knockhill to get himself back into the Championship hunt who prevailed in the opening session. Not to much can be read into the times – with the forecast to stay dry for the rest of weekend – the upcoming session at 12.50pm should give us a clearer indication of how’ll be gunning for that pole position in qualifying at 4.10pm today.
Tickets for the BTCC Lokring Northern (UK) Raceday can be booked online until midnight tonight – subject to ticket collection at the track and at the advanced discounted rate. Tickets for today, can be purchased at the gate – remember the BTCC qualifying session goes at 4.10 pm today so plenty of time to get here – it will be an enthralling session for sure.
