Croft BTCC: Andrew Jordan fastest in truncated practice

The Eurotech Honda Civic driver set his best of 1m25.378s, less than half a second slower than Matt Neal's 2012 pole time, halfway through free practice one.

A late effort in practice one brought Jason Plato's works MG up to second, less than a tenth slower than Jordan.

Colin Turkington underlined the improving pace of WSR's new NGTC BMWs by going third quickest at a circuit that traditionally suits rear-wheel-drive machines.

The spectacular Tom Onslow-Cole was also on the pace with Team Hard's VW Passat, while the two works Hondas of Gordon Shedden and points leader Matt Neal were sixth and seventh.

Rain hit the circuit just before practice two, preventing any improvements. Rob Collard's WSR BMW, which was fifth fastest in first practice, set a 1m29.075s early on FP2 before track conditions deteriorated.

"The car's going very well and we like the unpredictable conditions," said Collard after his most promising run of 2013 so far.

That looked like being it for fast times, with many drivers set to try wet tyres, until Adam Morgan crashed his Ciceley Racing Toyota Avensis at Clervaux.

The impact damaged the barriers and brought the session to a halt, with the 15 minutes of running left on the clock being postponed until after the lunch break as the track dried.

But the barrier repairs took some time and the session was finally abandoned, leaving the drivers' practice one times as the best of the pre-qualifying running.

Jake Hill looks strong on his BTCC debut and was fastest of the S2000 runners in the Jack Sears Trophy, driving the Motorbase Ford Focus normally raced by Liam Griffin.

Practice one:

Pos  Driver            Team/Car           Time       Gap
 1.  Andrew Jordan     Eurotech Honda     1m25.378s
 2.  Jason Plato       MG                 1m25.450s  +0.072s
 3.  Colin Turkington  WSR BMW            1m25.486s  +0.108s
 4.  Tom Onslow-Cole   Hard VW            1m25.695s  +0.317s
 5.  Rob Collard       WSR BMW            1m25.841s  +0.463s
 6.  Gordon Shedden    Honda              1m25.936s  +0.558s
 7.  Matt Neal         Honda              1m26.064s  +0.686s
 8.  Frank Wrathall    Dynojet Toyota     1m26.538s  +1.160s
 9.  Dave Newsham      Speedworks Toyota  1m26.835s  +1.457s
10.  Sam Tordoff       MG                 1m26.870s  +1.492s
11.  Jeff Smith        Eurotech Honda     1m27.063s  +1.685s
12.  Nick Foster       WSR BMW            1m27.115s  +1.737s
13.  Aron Smith        Motorbase Ford     1m27.205s  +1.827s
14.  Rob Austin        Austin Audi        1m27.211s  +1.833s
15.  Adam Morgan       Ciceley Toyota     1m27.220s  +1.842s
16.  Daniel Welch      Welch Proton       1m27.222s  +1.844s
17.  Mat Jackson       Motorbase Ford     1m27.334s  +1.956s
18.  Will Bratt        Austin Audi        1m27.457s  +2.079s
19.  Michael Caine     Motorbase Ford     1m27.765s  +2.387s
20.  Ollie Jackson     Speedworks Toyota  1m27.808s  +2.430s
21.  Jack Goff         Hard Vauxhall      1m28.277s  +2.899s
22.  Jake Hill         Motorbase Ford     1m28.574s  +3.196s
23.  Lea Wood          Wood Vauxhall      1m28.616s  +3.238s
24.  James Cole        Hard Vauxhall      1m28.713s  +3.335s
25.  Warren Scott      BMR SEAT           1m29.427s  +4.049s
26.  David Nye         Welch Ford         1m29.782s  +4.404s
27.  James Kaye        AmD VW             1m30.352s  +4.974s
28.  Joe Girling       Finesse Chevrolet  1m31.100s  +5.722s

Practice two:

Pos  Driver            Team/Car           Time       Gap
 1.  Rob Collard       WSR BMW            1m29.075s
 2.  Mat Jackson       Motorbase Ford     1m31.881s  +2.806s
 3.  Rob Austin        Austin Audi        1m32.323s  +3.248s
 4.  Will Bratt        Austin Audi        1m33.456s  +4.381s
 5.  Nick Foster       WSR BMW            1m33.555s  +4.480s
 6.  Colin Turkington  WSR BMW            1m33.592s  +4.517s
 7.  Jack Goff         Hard Vauxhall      1m35.008s  +5.933s
 8.  Adam Morgan       Ciceley Toyota     1m35.842s  +6.767s
 9.  Aron Smith        Motorbase Ford     1m36.621s  +7.546s
10.  Ollie Jackson     Speedworks Toyota  1m37.015s  +7.940s
11.  Frank Wrathall    Dynojet Toyota     1m37.110s  +8.035s
12.  David Nye         Welch Ford         1m41.214s  +12.139s
13.  Joe Girling       Finesse Chevrolet  1m41.596s  +12.521s
14.  Lea Wood          Wood Vauxhall      1m41.745s  +12.670s
15.  Warren Scott      BMR SEAT           1m43.048s  +13.973s