Triple Eight’s Sam Tordoff topped the first free practice session at a foggy Rockingham, pipping Eurotech Racing’s Andrew Jordan by just 0.001 seconds.

Tordoff completed 19 laps in his MG 6 en route to the fastest time, in a session where visibility was at a premium. The Yorkshireman’s best time was around a second slower than the lap record set by his team-mate Jason Plato last year.

Behind the top two, Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan continued his impressive recent form in third, and was just 0.071 off the ultimate pace. Championship leader Colin Turkington was fourth, with his closest challenger Gordon Shedden in fifth.

Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram was sixth ahead of Fabrizio Giovanardi, with Matt Neal, Plato and Mat Jackson completing the top 10.

Just outside the top 10 was Team BMR’s Alain Menu, setting the 11th fastest time in his Volkswagen CC on his first visit to the Northamptonshire circuit.

The session was briefly red flagged with 10 minutes to go when Jordan’s team-mate Martin Depper went off into the gravel at Tarzan, and had to be recovered by the snatch vehicle.

With visibility worsening, proceedings were brought to a slightly premature conclusion, with the chequered flag flying around 90 seconds before the scheduled end of the 40-minute session.