Honda’s Gabriele Tarquini posted the fastest time in Friday testing for the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the Moscow Raceway with a late lap that denied Citroën’s Yvan Muller.
Tarquini posted a late fast lap in the hour-half session to go 0.043 seconds faster than Muller, who had traded times with the Italian in the final ten minutes of the session.
Third fastest was the second works’ Honda of Tiago Monteiro, who had also spent time at the top of the timesheets briefly around half-way through the session, demonstrating strong performance from the Civic drivers.
Next up were a trio of Citroën drivers, headed by José María López, who was 0.757 seconds off the pace. Ma Qing Hua was fifth, ahead of Sébastien Loeb in sixth.
LADA’s Rob Huff was seventh fastest, with the Brit having earlier been the fastest driver in the opening ten minutes of the session at the home race of the Russian manufacturer.
Completing the top ten were the Zengő Motorsport Honda of Norbert Michelisz, Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani and Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente.
Tom Chilton was the top ROAL Motorsport driver in 11th, ahead of LADA’s Dutch duo Jaap van Lagen in 12th and Nick Catsburg in 13th, with the latter 1.653 seconds off the pace.
Rickard Rydell, returning after a serious bout of thyroiditis prevented him from entering the past three rounds, failed to post a time in the session because his car was not at the circuit. Russian customs officials kept Nika International’s truck at customs for four days, although the car is expected to be at the circuit in time for Saturday’s sessions.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 1:38.460 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 1:38.503 | 0.043 | |
| 3 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 1:38.965 | 0.505 | |
| 4 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 1:39.217 | 0.757 | |
| 5 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 1:39.265 | 0.805 | |
| 6 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 1:39.315 | 0.855 | |
| 7 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 13 | 1:39.409 | 0.949 | |
| 8 | 5 | Y | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 13 | 1:39.494 | 1.034 |
| 9 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 1:39.532 | 1.072 |
| 10 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 12 | 1:39.692 | 1.232 |
| 11 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 9 | 1:39.874 | 1.414 |
| 12 | 46 | Jaap VAN LAGEN |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 13 | 1:39.950 | 1.490 | |
| 13 | 10 | Nick CATSBURG | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 12 | 1:40.113 | 1.653 | |
| 14 | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 1:40.852 | 2.392 |
| 15 | 4 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 12 | 1:40.932 | 2.472 |
| 16 | 26 | Y | Stefano D’ASTE | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 1:41.229 | 2.769 |
| 17 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 1:42.108 | 3.648 |
| 18 | 19 | Rickard RYDELL |  |
Nika International | Honda Civic WTCC | 0 | No time | N/A |