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Pepe Oriola sets the Sepang practice pace

Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Pepe Oriola set the pace in free practice for the TCR International Series at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, over half a second clear of Leopard Racing’s Jean-Karl Vernay.

O a newly-resurface circuit, lap times were significantly faster than those set at the first-ever TCR meeting back in March 2015.

Oriola spent much of the session at the top of the times, continually improving in his SEAT León in what is the only practice session for the TCR field this weekend due to the time constraints of supporting Formula One.

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WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli was third fastest, 1.149 seconds off the pace, ahead of an impressive time by B3 Racing’s Attila Tassi in fourth.

Reigning champion Stefano Comini brought the second Leopard Volkswagen across the line with the fifth-best time, ahead of championship leader James Nash in sixth, just under 1.5 seconds off the pace.

The session had to be twice red-flagged due to firstly Andy Yan spinning off at Turn 1 and beaching his Volkswagen Golf in the gravel trap.

A second delay occurred when TCR Asia competitor Bill O’Brien went off in the gravel and the session eventually resumed with eight minutes to run.

Teamwork Motorsport’s Kevin Tse was the fastest of the TCR Asia Series competitors in 11th, ahead of Tin Sritrai in 16th, Filipe Clemente de Souza in 17th and Douglas Khoo in 19th.

TCR International newcomers Roberto Colciago and Nicky Pastorelli were 12th and 18th quickestg in their Honda Civic and Ford Focus cars respectively.

Several drivers experienced technical issues, including Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Sergey Afanasyev, who completed just three laps due to gearbox issues. His fellow Russian, Mikhail Grachev, also had intercooler issues on his way to 13th fastest.

Liqui Moly Team Engstlers’ Davit Kajaia also stopped on the track at the end of the session after running out of fuel – the Georgian was 15th.

Session results

POS NO DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME GAP
1 74 Pepe ORIOLA Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL SEAT León TCR 12 2:16.241 0.000
2 2 Jean-Karl VERNAY Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR 9 2:16.850 0.609
3 10 Gianni MORBIDELLI West Coast Racing Honda Civic TCR 11 2:17.390 1.149
4 9 Attila TASSI B3 Racing Team Hungary SEAT León TCR 12 2:17.492 1.251
5 1 Stefano COMINI Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR 10 2:17.524 1.283
6 54 James NASH Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL SEAT León TCR 13 2:17.716 1.475
7 50 Loris HEZEMANS Target Competition SEAT León TCR 12 2:17.847 1.606
8 24 Kevin GLEASON West Coast Racing Honda Civic TCR 12 2:17.929 1.688
9 62 Dušan BORKOVIĆ B3 Racing Team Hungary SEAT León TCR 12 2:17.930 1.689
10 70 Mat’o HOMOLA B3 Racing Team Hungary SEAT León TCR 13 2:18.124 1.883
11 28 Kevin TSE Wing Kin Teamwork Motorsport Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR 12 2:19.008 2.767
12 5 Roberto COLCIAGO Target Competition Honda Civic TCR 13 2:19.252 3.011
13 8 Mikhail GRACHEV West Coast Racing Honda Civic TCR 8 2:19.253 3.012
14 20 Mario FERRARIS Mulsanne Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR 11 2:19.446 3.205
15 7 Davit KAJAIA Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR 10 2:19.466 3.225
16 83 Tin SRITRAI Team Thailand Honda Civic TCR 3 2:21.032 4.791
17 68 Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR 10 2:21.111 4.870
18 72 Nicky PASTORELLI FRD Racing Team Ford Focus TCR 10 2:21.464 5.223
19 65 Douglas KHOO Kok Hui Viper Niza Racing SEAT León Cup Racer 12 2:21.984 5.743
20 27 Bill O’BRIEN Teamwork Motorsport Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR 5 2:25.358 9.117
21 3 Andy YAN Cheuk Wai Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR 3 2:27.809 11.568
22 77 Sergey AFANASYEV Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL SEAT León TCR 3 2:28.740 12.499
23 35 Rafaël GALIANA Target Competition Honda Civic TCR 4 2:39.292 23.051

Complete session results.

Qualifying takes place at 08:40 local time on Friday (01:40 BST, 02:40 CEST).

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