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Sergey Afanasyev fastest in Salzburgring testing

Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Sergey Afanasyev set the pace in Friday testing for the TCR International Series at the Salzburgring, posting a time 0.106 seconds faster than SEAT team-mate Pepe Oriola.

The Russian driver posted his best lap time towards the end of the near-two hour session, demoting Spaniard Oriola to second.

Target Competition’s Stefano Comini in third separated the Craft-Bamboo drivers, denying Jordi Gené the chance to make it a perfect start to the weekend for the team.

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Despite setting the fastest time, Afanasyev admits to a lack of familiarity with the Salzburg circuit and expects he can improve further.

“I’m very pleased with the session, it shows that little by little it’s coming together,” said Afanasyev. “The car felt good and I am more and more acquainted with it. There are a couple of places where I need to improve.

“This is a very challenging track, where I raced only once ten years ago, in Formula Renault, so it’s my first time with covered-wheel cars.”

Gianni Morbidelli was the best of the rest in fifth, with the Italian’s success ballast-laden Honda posting a time 0.616 seconds off the pace.

Liqui Moly Team Engstler duo Lorenzo Veglia and Mikhail Grachev were sixth and seventh respectively in their SEAT cars.

Zengő Motorsport’s Zsolt Szabó, Target Competition’s Andrea Belicchi and WestCoast Racing’s Kevin Gleason completed the top ten.

The Opel Astra was shared by Fernando Monje and German driver Markus Oestreich during the session. However, an engine issue stopped the car on its first laps out of the pits. Oestreich was driving the car due to his experience, having recently taken a similar Opel Astra OPC to a class victory in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

Session results

POS NO DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME GAP
1 77 Sergey AFANASYEV Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL SEAT León Racer 37 1:27.208 0.000
2 74 Pepe ORIOLA Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL SEAT León Racer 34 1:27.314 0.106
3 25 Stefano COMINI Target Competition SEAT León Racer 17 1:27.591 0.383
4 88 Jordi GENÉ Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL SEAT León Racer 36 1:27.772 0.564
5 10 Gianni MORBIDELLI West Coast Racing Honda Civic TCR 22 1:27.824 0.616
6 7 Lorenzo VEGLIA Liqui Moly Team Engstler SEAT León Racer 38 1:27.976 0.768
7 8 Mikhail GRACHEV Liqui Moly Team Engstler SEAT León Racer 44 1:27.987 0.779
8 46 Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ Zengő Motorsport SEAT León Racer 45 1:28.221 1.013
9 33 Andrea BELICCHI Target Competition SEAT León Racer 30 1:28.291 1.083
10 24 Kevin GLEASON West Coast Racing Honda Civic TCR 32 1:28.297 1.089
11 17 Michel NYKJÆR Target Competition SEAT León Racer 26 1:28.883 1.675
12 20 Igor SKUZ West Coast Racing Honda Civic TCR 15 1:28.969 1.761
13 34 Bas SCHOUTEN ST Motorsport / Bas Koeten Racing SEAT León Racer 39 1:29.183 1.975
14 19 Fernando MONJE / Markus OESTREICH Campos Racing Opel Astra OPC 20 1:29.480 2.272

Complete session results.

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