Reigning champion José María López was the quickest driver during first practice for the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in Slovakia, ahead of LADA’s Rob Huff and Citroën team-mate Ma Qing Hua.
López posted the fastest lap in the opening minutes of the half-hour session, clocking a 2:05.201 on his second lap of the Slovakiaring circuit in a session which saw few lap time improvements.
Huff was second, 0.716 seconds adrift, with the Brit’s LADA Vesta being the lightest car on the grid this weekend.
Third placed Ma and fourth-placed Jaap van Lagen were the only other drivers to be within a second of the pace, with the latter improving his time in the closing minutes of the session to put two LADAs in the top four places.
Gabriele Tarquini was the top Honda driver in fifth, ahead of the independent Civic of Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz in sixth.
Citroën’s Yvan Muller was seventh, two tenths of a second slower than his time in Friday testing, ahead of the Honda of Tiago Monteiro in eighth.
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Chilton completed just five laps before the Brit locked his brakes heading into turn one and beeched his car in the gravel trap.
WTCC newcomer Nestor Girolami completed the top ten in his Nika Racing Honda, 1.274 seconds off the pace.
The Chevrolet drivers struggled somewhat around the long Slovakiaring circuit, with five of the seven cars occupying the bottom places on the timesheets. Of note, ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel was on the edge during the session, with the Dutchman skating through the gravel at turn three around half-way through.
Second practice takes place at 10:00 CEST (11:00 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 2:05.201 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 10 | 2:05.917 | 0.716 | |
| 3 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 2:06.139 | 0.938 | |
| 4 | 46 | Jaap VAN LAGEN |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 11 | 2:06.189 | 0.988 | |
| 5 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 8 | 2:06.252 | 1.051 | |
| 6 | 5 | Y | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 10 | 2:06.360 | 1.159 |
| 7 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 2:06.367 | 1.166 | |
| 8 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 9 | 2:06.462 | 1.261 | |
| 9 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 5 | 2:06.473 | 1.272 |
| 10 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
Nika International | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 2:06.475 | 1.274 | |
| 11 | 10 | Nick CATSBURG | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 12 | 2:06.585 | 1.384 | |
| 12 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 2:06.597 | 1.396 |
| 13 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 8 | 2:06.740 | 1.539 |
| 14 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 2:06.843 | 1.642 | |
| 15 | 26 | Y | Stefano D’ASTE | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 2:07.062 | 1.861 |
| 16 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 2:07.093 | 1.892 |
| 17 | 4 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 9 | 2:08.057 | 2.856 |
| 18 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 2:08.182 | 2.981 | |
| 19 | 70 | Mato HOMOLA |  |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 2:09.517 | 4.316 |