It has been a whirlwind few weeks for series returnee Bobby Thompson while awaiting the announcement of his drive with Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR, but the Essex man is clearly back where he belongs after securing P1 in the final BTCC practice session at Snetterton.
As conditions continue to improve at the Norfolk circuit, Thompson set a number of fastest laps and held his place ahead of a late flying lap from NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish.
Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Jake Hill led the way during the early running, but eventually had to settle for third, ahead of reigning champion Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK) and Brands Hatch double race winner Colin Turkington (Team BMW).
As per the opening session, Fords and BMWs filled the top five position but there was a further twist with the final classification.
With the groups for the opening segment of qualifying being set by the odd and even finishing places during FP2, the top three BMWs will be all in the same group while all four Fords will be in the second section. With only the top six cars then progressing through to Q2 there is a good chance that some of the BTCC's big guns could struggle to make an impact later this afternoon.
Mikey Doble (Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing), Rob Huff (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK) and Dan Rowbottom (NAPA Racing UK) were next in the order, whilst Ronan Pearson (Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS) and Árón Taylor-Smith (Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing) rounded out the top ten.
Qualifying for Round 7 of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship takes place at 15:30 and will be streamed live via the ITV Sport YouTube channel.
Snetterton – Free Practice 2 – Classification
| P/ | No/ | Name/ | Entry/ | Laps/ | Time/ | Gap/ | On/ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR | 13 | 2:10.375 | 10 | |
| 2 | 27 | Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | 13 | 2:10.757 | 0.382 | 10 |
| 3 | 24 | Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | 12 | 2:10.792 | 0.417 | 9 |
| 4 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | 12 | 2:10.868 | 0.493 | 9 |
| 5 | 20 | Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | 13 | 2:11.186 | 0.811 | 9 |
| 6 | 88 | Mikey DOBLE | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | 14 | 2:11.459 | 1.084 | 8 |
| 7 | 12 | Rob HUFF | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | 13 | 2:11.735 | 1.36 | 3 |
| 8 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | 13 | 2:11.749 | 1.374 | 12 |
| 9 | 14 | Ronan PEARSON | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 13 | 2:11.799 | 1.424 | 8 |
| 10 | 40 | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | 12 | 2:11.813 | 1.438 | 8 |
| 11 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 11 | 2:11.871 | 1.496 | 7 |
| 12 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | Team BMW | 13 | 2:11.906 | 1.531 | 9 |
| 13 | 11 | Andrew WATSON | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | 14 | 2:11.982 | 1.607 | 8 |
| 14 | 222 | Chris SMILEY | Restart Racing | 13 | 2:12.697 | 2.322 | 12 |
| 15 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 7 | 2:12.827 | 2.452 | 2 |
| 16 | 66 | Josh COOK | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | 10 | 2:12.996 | 2.621 | 5 |
| 17 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | 11 | 2:13.079 | 2.704 | 2 |
| 18 | 18 | Daryl DELEON | Duckhams Racing With Bartercard | 13 | 2:14.406 | 4.031 | 3 |
| 19 | 29 | Scott SUMPTON | Restart Racing | 13 | 2:14.836 | 4.461 | 13 |
| 20 | 77 | Sam OSBORNE | NAPA Racing UK | 13 | 2:15.177 | 4.802 | 8 |
| 21 | 22 | Nick HALSTEAD | Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | 12 | 2:15.836 | 5.461 | 3 |
