Silverstone BTCC: Jason Plato tops practice as MGs dominate

The double champion, who has to score well this weekend to keep his title hopes alive, was fastest in the morning with a lap in 58.614 seconds.

He only managed second to team-mate Sam Tordoff, who recorded 58.624s, in the later session but remained ahead overall. Plato was also able to record a number of laps in the 58s bracket.

Tordoff, who conceded he will probably return to Plato's set-up after trying something different in the afternoon, said: "We're where we need to be in terms of balance. We know we're quick here."

Gordon Shedden (works Honda Civic Tourer) improved on his Silverstone form of recent years with third overall thanks to his 58.695s run in the morning, though the Hondas were further down later in the day.

Title leader Colin Turkington's WSR BMW was third in both sessions, his best of 58.773s also coming during the earlier running.

Like the MGs, the BMR VWs run the TOCA engine and also proved rapid, Aron Smith narrowly heading team-mate Alain Menu in fifth overall.

Adam Morgan's Ciceley Mercedes A-class was seventh, just ahead of Mat Jackson's Motorbase Ford Focus, which looked a handful through the high-speed Copse corner.

First practice

Pos	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Jason Plato	MG	58.614s	-	23
2	Gordon Shedden	Honda	58.695s	0.081s	22
3	Colin Turkington	BMW	58.773s	0.159s	23
4	Aron Smith	BMR Volkswagen	58.780s	0.166s	20
5	Alain Menu	BMR Volkswagen	58.808s	0.194s	22
6	Sam Tordoff	MG	58.897s	0.283s	19
7	Adam Morgan	Ciceley Mercedes	59.048s	0.434s	26
8	Mat Jackson	Motorbase Ford	59.121s	0.507s	24
9	Warren Scott	BMR Volkswagen	59.132s	0.518s	23
10	Matt Neal	Honda	59.142s	0.528s	23
11	Andrew Jordan	Eurotech Honda	59.155s	0.541s	24
12	Jack Goff	BMR Volkswagen	59.203s	0.589s	23
13	Rob Collard	WSR BMW	59.317s	0.703s	26
14	Jack Clarke	Motorbase Ford	59.321s	0.707s	28
15	Nick Foster	WSR BMW	59.352s	0.738s	27
16	Martin Depper	Eurotech Honda	59.451s	0.837s	25
17	Marc Hynes	MG	59.468s	0.854s	24
18	Dave Newsham	AmD Ford	59.509s	0.895s	26
19	Rob Austin	RAR Audi	59.543s	0.929s	25
20	Tom Ingram	Speedworks Toyota	59.569s	0.955s	25
21	James Cole	UA Toyota	59.619s	1.005s	29
22	Lea Wood	Houseman Toyota	59.830s	1.216s	29
23	Aiden Moffat	Moffat Chevrolet	59.928s	1.314s	23
24	Fabrizio Giovanardi	Motorbase Ford	1m 00.106s	1.492s	15
25	Luke Hines	UA Toyota	1m 00.269s	1.655s	25
26	Chris Stockton	BTC Chevrolet	1m 00.482s	1.868s	26
27	Robb Holland	Rotek Audi	1m 00.529s	1.915s	25
28	Simon Belcher	Handy Toyota	1m 00.728s	2.114s	26
29	Daniel Welch	Welch Proton	1m 00.944s	2.330s	17
30	Ollie Jackson	Welch Proton	1m 02.025s	3.411s	20
31	Hunter Abbott	RAR Audi	-	-	0

Second practice

Pos	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Sam Tordoff	MG	58.624s	-	23
2	Jason Plato	MG	58.823s	0.199s	22
3	Colin Turkington	BMW	58.985s	0.361s	25
4	Aron Smith	BMR Volkswagen	59.071s	0.447s	21
5	Mat Jackson	Ford	59.085s	0.461s	24
6	Jack Goff	BMR Volkswagen	59.087s	0.463s	24
7	Andrew Jordan	Honda	59.092s	0.468s	23
8	Marc Hynes	MG	59.161s	0.537s	24
9	Matt Neal	Honda	59.174s	0.550s	25
10	Rob Austin	Audi	59.178s	0.554s	28
11	Adam Morgan	Mercedes	59.192s	0.568s	25
12	Rob Collard	BMW	59.198s	0.574s	26
13	Tom Ingram	Toyota	59.218s	0.594s	27
14	Gordon Shedden	Honda	59.228s	0.604s	26
15	Alain Menu	BMR Volkswagen	59.319s	0.695s	14
16	Warren Scott	Volkswagen	59.372s	0.748s	21
17	Nick Foster	BMW	59.426s	0.802s	23
18	Jack Clarke	Ford	59.444s	0.820s	30
19	Dave Newsham	Ford	59.523s	0.899s	23
20	Fabrizio Giovanardi	Ford	59.634s	1.010s	18
21	James Cole	Toyota	59.728s	1.104s	26
22	Aiden Moffat	Chevrolet	59.737s	1.113s	24
23	Martin Depper	Honda	59.909s	1.285s	22
24	Lea Wood	Toyota	1m 00.043s	1.419s	28
25	Robb Holland	Audi	1m 00.185s	1.561s	24
26	Simon Belcher	Toyota	1m 00.222s	1.598s	23
27	Chris Stockton	Chevrolet	1m 00.269s	1.645s	21
28	Hunter Abbott	Audi	1m 00.381s	1.757s	18
29	Daniel Welch	Proton	1m 00.563s	1.939s	17
30	Luke Hines	Toyota	1m 00.789s	2.165s	15
31	Ollie Jackson	Proton	1m 01.653s	3.029s	11