Shedden leads Oulton practice one

Date published : 04 Jun 2011 - 09:27:16

Gordon Shedden led a Honda one-two in the first British Touring Car practice session at Oulton Park this morning.Shedden set a time of 1m27.558s, around 0.2 seconds slower than Tom Onslow-Cole's pole last year and his own 2010 qualifying best, in the first half of the session. He then had a longer run, his times eventually falling to nearly 2.5s off his quickest effort.Team-mate Matt Neal, running the full 45kg of ballast, was second with 1m27.944s in his turbo Civic.The normally aspirated works Chevrolet Cruzes were next, benefiting from their recent 25kg weight break and the twisty nature of the circuit. Reigning champion Jason Plato was third, team-mate Alex MacDowall fourth, but they were 0.8s behind Shedden.Eurotech/Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan was again competitive in his Vauxhall Vectra in fifth, just ahead of Rob Collard. The WSR BMW driver, running with his own 10kg weight break and free first gear, set a best of 1m28.526s.Andy Neate showed improved form, lapping within 0.1s of Arena Motorsport Ford Focus team-mate Tom Chilton, to end up 10th.On his first race weekend session with the Special Tuning Racing SEAT Leon, Dave Newsham was 13th, 0.2s and two places behind team-mate Tom Boardman.Series returnee Lea Wood gradually improved his pace throughout the session, eventually recording a 1m31.261s (21st) with his Team Wood Racing Honda Integra-R.Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Gordon Shedden Honda 1m27.558s 2. Matt Neal Honda 1m27.944s + 0.386s 3. Jason Plato Chevrolet 1m28.406s + 0.848s 4. Alex MacDowall Chevrolet 1m28.445s + 0.887s 5. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Vauxhall 1m28.471s + 0.913s 6. Rob Collard WSR BMW 1m28.526s + 0.968s 7. Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 1m28.549s + 0.991s 8. Tom Chilton Arena Ford 1m28.875s + 1.317s 9. James Nash Triple 8 Vauxhall 1m28.930s + 1.372s10. Andy Neate Arena Ford 1m28.967s + 1.409s11. Tom Boardman Special Tuning SEAT 1m29.110s + 1.552s12. Paul O'Neill Tech-Speed Chevrolet 1m29.345s + 1.787s13. Dave Newsham Special Tuning SEAT 1m29.348s + 1.790s14. Tony Gilham Triple 8 Vauxhall 1m29.443s + 1.885s15. Jeff Smith Eurotech Vauxhall 1m29.535s + 1.977s16. Nick Foster WSR BMW 1m29.642s + 2.084s17. Liam Griffin Motorbase Ford 1m29.726s + 2.168s18. Tom Onslow-Cole AmD Volkswagen 1m30.281s + 2.723s19. John George Tech-Speed Chevrolet 1m30.399s + 2.841s20. Rob Austin Austin Audi 1m31.140s + 3.582s21. Lea Wood Central Honda 1m31.261s + 3.703s22. Frank Wrathall Dynojet Toyota 1m32.209s + 4.651s23. Tony Hughes Speedworks Toyota 1m32.407s + 4.849s24. Chris James ES Chevrolet 1m32.807s + 5.249s