Polestar Cyan Racing’s Fredrik Ekblom set the pace in first practice for the World Touring Car Championship at the Slovakiaring, ahead of Volvo team-mate Thed Björk.
Ekblom set the pace early on in the half hour session with a lap of 2:05.420, with team-mate Björk joining him at the top of the times before the half-way stage of practice.
LADA’s Nicky Catsburg emerged as the fastest contender, putting his car just 0.343 seconds off the pace in third, although his team-mate Hugo Valente had threatened to split the pace-setting Volvo’s. The Frenchman was briefly second fastest in the closing minutes, before his lap time was disallowed for exceeding the track limits.
The second LADA of Gabriele Tarquini ended the session in fourth, ahead of the leading Honda of Norbert Michelisz in fifth, who will have delighted his ‘home’ fans by being the brand’s best driver.
Rob Huff and Tiago Monteiro were sixth and seventh fastest behind their team-mate, with the Brit being the last driver to be within a second of the pace.
Valente ended the session in eighth after his lap times were twice disallowed, ahead of reigning champion José María López in ninth, with the Citroën’s clearly still struggling with the fact they are 80 kg heavier than the competition.
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel completed the top ten, just ahead of fellow Chevrolet racer John Filippi in 11th.
The second works’ Citroën of Yvan Muller was 12th fastest, 1.945 seconds off the pace, whilst none of the Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroëns made it into the top ten, with Tom Chilton leading in 14th position.
James Thompson improved on his Friday testing pace by putting in the 13th fastest time, just over two seconds off the pace.
Second practice takes place at 10:30 BST (11:30 CEST).
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 9 | 2:05.420 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 12 | 2:05.733 | 0.313 | |
| 3 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 9 | 2:05.763 | 0.343 | |
| 4 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 9 | 2:06.043 | 0.623 | |
| 5 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 10 | 2:06.172 | 0.752 | |
| 6 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 9 | 2:06.357 | 0.937 | |
| 7 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 2:06.603 | 1.183 | |
| 8 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 10 | 2:06.750 | 1.330 | |
| 9 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 2:06.814 | 1.394 | |
| 10 | 9 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 2:06.863 | 1.443 |
| 11 | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 2:07.295 | 1.875 |
| 12 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 2:07.365 | 1.945 | |
| 13 | 15 | Y | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 2:07.509 | 2.089 |
| 14 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 2:07.693 | 2.273 |
| 15 | 55 | Y | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 2:07.923 | 2.503 |
| 16 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 2:08.015 | 2.595 |
| 17 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 2:08.056 | 2.636 |