The top times in practice for the World Touring Car Championship in China were shared by Polestar Cyan Racing duo Thed Björk and Fredrik Ekblom, with the Swedes setting the pace in first and second practice respectively.
First practice
Björk went quickest with a time of 1:51.999 to pip Citroën’s new provisional champion José María López by 0.201 seconds.
Muller, who on Thursday announced his retirement from WTCC, was third fastest, ahead of the leading Honda of Norbert Michelisz in fourth.
Fredrik Ekblom put the second Volvo in fifth fastest in his first competitive session since racing at the Moscow Raceway back in June.
LADA duo Nicky Catsburg and Gabriele Tarquini were sixth and seventh respectively, whilst Honda’s eighth-placed Rob Huff was the last of the drivers within a second of the pace.
Second practice
Polestar continued their impressive pace to top second practice, this time with Ekblom dominating the times. It means that the Swedish marque have topped all WTCC practice sessions in Asia so far this year, having earlier set the pace in Japan.
Ekblom’s fastest lap was a comfortable 0.467 seconds quicker than a surprise second-placed John Filippi, who put his Campos Racing Chevrolet right in the mix.
Björk was third fastest, a further tenth adrift, ahead of Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani in fourth in a session which saw the Independent Trophy drivers perform well.
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel was fifth, ahead of Honda’s Tiago Monteiro in sixth, who was the only other person with a second of the pace.
The leading LADA was that of ninth-placed Gabriele Tarquini, whilst the leading works’ Citroën was that of José María López in tenth overall.
Qualifying takes place at 14:30 local time (07:30 BST, 08:30 CEST).
First practice results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 9 | 1:51.999 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 8 | 1:52.200 | 0.201 | |
| 3 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 1:52.346 | 0.347 | |
| 4 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:52.557 | 0.558 | |
| 5 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 12 | 1:52.562 | 0.563 | |
| 6 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 13 | 1:52.649 | 0.650 | |
| 7 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 10 | 1:52.758 | 0.759 | |
| 8 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:52.917 | 0.918 | |
| 9 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 8 | 1:53.016 | 1.017 |
| 10 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 1:53.258 | 1.259 |
| 11 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:53.388 | 1.389 |
| 12 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 11 | 1:53.399 | 1.400 | |
| 13 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:53.580 | 1.581 |
| 14 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 10 | 1:53.682 | 1.683 | |
| 15 | 15 | T | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 12 | 1:53.737 | 1.738 |
| 16 | 99 | T | Dániel NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:54.561 | 2.562 |
| 17 | 55 | T | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:54.990 | 2.991 |
| 18 | 11 | T | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 1:55.612 | 3.613 |
Second practice results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 9 | 1:51.400 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 1:51.867 | 0.467 |
| 3 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 10 | 1:51.924 | 0.524 | |
| 4 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 1:51.956 | 0.556 |
| 5 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:52.257 | 0.857 |
| 6 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:52.298 | 0.898 | |
| 7 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 1:52.420 | 1.020 |
| 8 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:52.486 | 1.086 | |
| 9 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 11 | 1:52.498 | 1.098 | |
| 10 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 1:52.604 | 1.204 | |
| 11 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 11 | 1:52.606 | 1.206 | |
| 12 | 15 | T | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 7 | 1:52.817 | 1.417 |
| 13 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 1:52.827 | 1.427 | |
| 14 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:52.955 | 1.555 | |
| 15 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 10 | 1:53.754 | 2.354 | |
| 16 | 11 | T | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 1:53.828 | 2.428 |
| 17 | 55 | T | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 13 | 1:54.239 | 2.839 |
| 18 | 99 | T | Dániel NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 10 | 1:55.804 | 4.404 |