Matt Neal headed a Honda 1-2-3 in a damp opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship practice session on Brands Hatchs Grand Prix circuit.

Neal set the pace with a best lap of 1m44.510s in his Honda Yuasa Racing Team Civic with a late-session burst. Impressively, all of his final three laps would have put him at the top.

Next up were his team-mate Gordon Shedden and fellow Honda driver, Pirtek Racings Andrew Jordan, respective leaders of the outright and Independent drivers championships going into this weekends title-deciding round.

Jason Plato, Sheddens biggest threat, was fourth in his new-look KX Momentum Racing MG, some 1.2s off Neals pace. But he declared: Theres no point pushing for a time in these conditions. All weve done is scrub in dry and wet weather tyres.

Indeed, the leading times were some 13 seconds off the qualifying and race laps records, but there were still several surprises of note.

Will Bratt was a fine fifth in his wixracing.co.uk Audi A4 and Ollie Jackson tenth in AmD Tuning.coms VW Golf, just ahead of Chris Jamess ES Racing.com Vauxhall Vectra. Making his debut this weekend, Aaron Williamson was 18th fastest of the 24 runners in Team HARDs Honda Civic.

James's car was the fastest of all through the first of three speed traps, with Shedden's Honda and Mat Jackson's fifth-placed Redstone Racing Ford Focus ahead in the next two. Of the three sectors, Neal was untouchable in the first two but it was Daniel Welch, eighth fastest overall, who was quickest in the third in his Welch Motorsport Proton Persona.

Meanwhile Frank Wrathalls session was a brief affair, his Dynojet Toyota Avensis stopping in the pit lane with smoke, caused by an oil leak, pouring from its engine bay.