Thruxton Practice 2: Chilton moves to top

Tom Chilton headed a Team Halfords 1-2 in the second practice this afternoon at Thruxton as championship leader Fabrizio Giovanardi, who topped session 1, hit problems.

After Giovanardi topped the first practice session he suffered a puncture that put him out of the session. And the Hampshire circuit which is notorious for punctures provided Giovanardi with another in session two, leaving him down in eleventh. Vauxhall will be hoping that their tyre wear isn’t too high on race day tomorrow, as the Vectra’s have suffered more tyre failures around Thruxton in recent years than anyone else.

Chilton has been on top form all day and moved up from second in session one this morning to first in this afternoon’s session with a lap time of 1:18.383. Team mate Gordon Shedden followed up behind, less than two tenths of a second slower.

Mat Jackson improved dramatically on his morning session to end up third in practice 2.

The SEAT’s of Darren Turner and Jason Plato, expected to run strongly at Thruxton, finished the session in 4th and 8th respectively.

Top 10 Times:

1. Tom Chilton, 1:18.383
2. Gordon Shedden, +0.133
3. Mat Jackson, +0.239
4. Darren Turner, +0.310
5. Tom Onslow-Cole, +0.320
6. Colin Turkington, +0.396
7. Matt Neal, +0.573
8. Jason Plato, +0.621
9. Andrew Jordan, +0.757
10. Adam Jones, +0.781