Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
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Ford Focus driver Dan Cammish was quickest in British Touring Car Championship practice at Donington Park across two unrepresentative sessions affected by wet weather.
The Alliance Racing driver was fastest in the opening 35 minutes of practice to set the best time of the morning as the NAPA-liveried Fords looked strong in the changeable conditions.
Cammish defeated his team-mate Dan Rowbottom by just 0.078 seconds in FP1, while reigning champion Ash Sutton made it three of the Focuses inside the top four - points leader Tom Ingram's Hyundai i30 N Fastback the only interloper.
The track was wettest in the opening session, although the rain was nowhere near as heavy as the deluge that hit the Leicestershire venue for the BTCC's season-opener in April.
However, despite the track drying and the drivers switching to slick tyres for FP2, the lap times were actually slower than those they had managed earlier as the circuit remained very greasy in places.
"I think the first session was more representative," Cammish told Autosport, adding he "got some housekeeping done" in FP2 by scrubbing some tyres in, despite the lack of meaningful running.
"I think we're in a good place for qualifying but it's a step into the unknown for all of us."
Photo by: JEP
While Cammish topped the timesheets for the vast majority of the opening session, the track conditions did catch out several drivers, including 2012 World Touring Car champion Rob Huff, who brought out the red flags when he skated into the gravel at Goddards early on.
Fellow Toyota Corolla driver Aiden Moffat also had a sizeable moment heading into the Old Hairpin but he was able to extricate his Speedworks-run car under his own steam.
Rowbottom was then on course to top FP2 with a 1m42.849s, which compared to the 1m41.679s that Cammish managed in the earlier session, until Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra driver Mikey Doble usurped Rowbottom in the final moments by just 0.006s.
Cammish was third quickest with Sutton, Andrew Watson (Toyota) and the pick of the West Surrey Racing BMW 330e M Sport contingent Jake Hill rounding out the top six - despite the latter battling illness.
A tough morning for Huff was compounded by him not completing a single lap in FP2 as the Speedworks squad worked to change his Corolla's steering rack.
The tricky conditions also meant a difficult start to Mini Challenge conqueror Dan Zelos's debut BTCC weekend. He was 18th and 14th fastest in the two sessions having replaced Ronan Pearson at the wheel of an Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai.
Doble's late improvement has set up an intriguing group draw for qualifying as title contenders Sutton, Hill, Colin Turkington (BMW) and Josh Cook (Toyota) are joined by Rowbottom and Adam Morgan (BMW) in a strong Group 2 field.
Only Cammish and Ingram of the key contenders are in Group 1 with the fastest six from each bunch progressing to the next stage of qualifying.
FP2
1'42.843
+0.006
1'42.849
+0.320
1'43.163
+0.612
1'43.455
+0.934
1'43.777
+0.979
1'43.822
+1.142
1'43.985
+1.252
1'44.095
+1.501
1'44.344
+1.547
1'44.390
+1.609
1'44.452
+1.750
1'44.593
+1.806
1'44.649
+2.060
1'44.903
+2.694
1'45.537
+2.953
1'45.796
+3.496
1'46.339
+4.230
1'47.073
FP1
1'41.679
+0.078
1'41.757
+0.508
1'42.187
+0.709
1'42.388
+0.827
1'42.506
+1.060
1'42.739
+1.086
1'42.765
+1.125
1'42.804
+1.177
1'42.856
+1.190
1'42.869
+1.472
1'43.151
+1.513
1'43.192
+1.564
1'43.243
+1.672
1'43.351
+1.782
1'43.461
+1.919
1'43.598
+1.927
1'43.606
+2.532
1'44.211
+3.325
1'45.004
+3.627
1'45.306
Source: Autosport