Team Halfords man heads the way in the opening practice.

Team Halfords driver Gordon Shedden proved to be the man to beat in the opening practice session at Rockingham after setting the pace in the first on track action of the second round of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship.

The Scot posted a time of 1min 25.223secs during the session which was good enough to give him the edge over former team-mate Matt Neal. The double champion was one of the quieter drivers during the session as he spent much of his time parked in the garage before venturing onto the circuit, although he only completed eight laps at the wheel of this Vectra.

The same could be said for Jason Plato who was third fastest for SEAT ahead of the BMWs of Colin Turkington and Mat Jackson. Defending champion Fabrizio Giovanardi completed the top six, despite only doing seven laps during the session. Indeed on only his second quick lap, the Italian had jumped to the top of the pile before later being demoted as other drivers went quicker.

After a series of laps that saw him return straight to the pits, Darren Turner was seventh in the second of the diesel powered Leons while Stephen Jelley was a solid eighth having flown in from Dubai after concluding his GP2 Asia Series duties with the ART team yesterday. Tom Chilton and Matt Allison completed the top ten.

Amongst those to hit problems during the session were Steven Kane, who stopped on track in his Motorbase BMW, Michael Doyle, who suffered a spin at Deene, and Alan Taylor who was the only person not to post a time.

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