Yvan Muller posted the fastest time in first practice for the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at Circuit Paul Ricard in France, ahead of Citroën team-mate José María López and Honda’s Tiago Monteiro.
On home soil for himself and his team, Muller posted the fastest time inside the opening five seconds and was unchallenged thereafter, with points leader López also posting his best lap at the beginning of the session, ending up 0.209 seconds adrift of the Frenchman.
Monteiro improved to third just before ten minutes into the half-hour session, demoting Sébastien Loeb to the fourth fastest time.
The second works’ Honda of Gabriele Tarquini was fifth fastest, promisingly around three tenths off the pace.
The biggest surprise of the session was Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Grégoire Demoustier, who posted the sixth fastest time inside the final five minutes of the session. The Frenchman was the top Chevrolet driver and just under four tenths off the pace.
The fourth works’ Citroën of Ma Qing Hua was seventh, ahead of the top LADA of Nicky Catsburg in eighth, who also improved inside the final few minutes.
Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz and Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente completed the top ten, with having flirted with the top five positions early on before dropping down the top ten in the second half of the session.
Neither of the two Brits in the series were able to get into the top ten, with Tom Chilton the fastest of the pair in 13th, ahead of LADA’s Rob Huff in 14th.
The session was largely incident-free, with numerous drivers exploring the track limits on the high-speed circuit.
Second practice takes place at 11:30 CEST (10:30 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 1:30.950 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 1:31.159 | 0.209 | |
| 3 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:31.187 | 0.237 | |
| 4 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 1:31.252 | 0.302 | |
| 5 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:31.258 | 0.308 | |
| 6 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 1:31.348 | 0.398 |
| 7 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 1:31.441 | 0.491 | |
| 8 | 10 | Nick CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 13 | 1:31.516 | 0.566 | |
| 9 | 5 | Y | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:31.689 | 0.739 |
| 10 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:31.690 | 0.740 |
| 11 | 26 | Y | Stefano D’ASTE | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 12 | 1:31.698 | 0.748 |
| 12 | 46 | Jaap VAN LAGEN | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 15 | 1:31.762 | 0.812 | |
| 13 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON |  |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 1:31.841 | 0.891 |
| 14 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 12 | 1:31.973 | 1.023 | |
| 15 | 19 | Rickard RYDELL |  |
Nika International | Honda Civic WTCC | 13 | 1:32.251 | 1.301 | |
| 16 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 1:32.318 | 1.368 |
| 17 | 4 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 1:32.409 | 1.459 |
| 18 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:33.012 | 2.062 |