Chris Smiley moved to the top of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship timesheets at Oulton Park this afternoon, lapping the Island circuit in 1m24.288s to set the pace ahead of qualifying later on. The session had started off with a brief rain shower, but the circuit was dry enough by the end for Smiley to set the fastest time of the weekend so far.
The Northern Irishman was leading the session into the final few minutes before rapid efforts from Tom Ingram and Aron Taylor-Smith briefly moved them to the head of the order. But Smiley produced his best effort of the 35-minute session with his final lap in the Restart Racing Hyundai to end up top.
Taylor-Smith’s TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA entry was just over a tenth behind when the chequered flag fell with Ingram’s Team VERTU car a handful of hundredths further back. The Toyota and Hyundai machines also occupied the next four positions, with James Dorlin’s Corolla GR Sport in fourth.
Adam Morgan was fifth in another of the VERTU liveried machines, with Lloyd completing a top-six separated by less than three tenths of a second in Restart Racing’s other i30N. Gordon Shedden was seventh, just ahead of Mikey Doble in the leading non-Toyota or Hyundai.
Doble’s Vauxhall was marginally quicker than Dexter Patterson’s Cupra Leon with Dan Cammish completing the top-10 in the fastest of NAPA Racing UK’s Fords.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Free Practice 2, Oulton Park
- Chris Smiley, Restart Racing, Hyundai i30N, 1m24.288s
- Aron Taylor-Smith, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, +0.134s
- Tom Ingram, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +0.170s
- James Dorlin, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, +0.253s
- Adam Morgan, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +0.293s
- Dan Lloyd, Restart Racing, Hyundai i30N, +0.296s
- Gordon Shedden, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, +0.349s
- Mike Doble, Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing, Vauxhall Astra, +0.367s
- Dexter Patterson, ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport, Cupra Leon, +0.430s
- Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +0.440s
Click here for full times and results from this event.