Nicky Catsburg put LADA on top of the times in second practice for the World Touring Car Championship at the Slovakiaring, with a late lap to deny Volvo duo Thed Björk and Fredrik Ekblom another lockout at the top.
Catsburg went quickest on new rubber late in the session with a lap of 2:05.581 to go 0.304 seconds faster than Polestar Cyan Racing’s Björk.
The Volvo duo had again been the pace-setters through much of the session, before the LADA driver pipped them in the closing minutes.
Whilst Fredrik Ekblom was fastest in the first half of the half-hour session, it was Björk who went quicker in the closing ten minutes to take what would become second.
Honda’s Norbert Michelisz was fourth fastest, ahead of an impressive time by series returnee James Thompson in fifth, who ended the session as the fastest Chevrolet driver.
LADA’s Hugo Valente was sixth, despite running wide into the gravel late in the session, ahead of Honda’s Tiago Monteiro in seventh.
Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton was the leading Citroën driver in eighth, with the French cars still clearly struggling with their extra 80 kg of ballast compared to their rivals.
Honda’s Rob Huff, and works’ Citroën driver Yvan Muller completed the top ten, with the latter being almost two seconds off the pace.
The slowest LADA driver in the session was Gabriele Tarquini in 11th ahead of reigning champion José María López in 12th, with the Citroën driver being 2.233 seconds off the pace.
John Filippi was 14th fastest in his Campos Chevrolet, with the Frenchman setting his time just before beaching his car in the gravel trap at the final turn inside the final minute.
Sébastien Loeb Racing duo Mehdi Bennani and Grégoire Demoustier once again propped up the timesheets in their independent Citroëns, which are also laden with 80 kg of additional weight.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 10 | 2:05.581 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 9 | 2:05.885 | 0.304 | |
| 3 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 11 | 2:06.596 | 1.015 | |
| 4 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 10 | 2:06.605 | 1.024 | |
| 5 | 15 | Y | James THOMPSON |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 2:06.712 | 1.131 |
| 6 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 10 | 2:06.820 | 1.239 | |
| 7 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 2:06.914 | 1.333 | |
| 8 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 2:07.263 | 1.682 |
| 9 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 8 | 2:07.551 | 1.970 | |
| 10 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 2:07.557 | 1.976 | |
| 11 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 12 | 2:07.705 | 2.124 | |
| 12 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 2:07.814 | 2.233 | |
| 13 | 55 | Y | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 10 | 2:07.930 | 2.349 |
| 14 | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 9 | 2:07.941 | 2.360 |
| 15 | 9 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 5 | 2:07.971 | 2.390 |
| 16 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 2:08.200 | 2.619 |
| 17 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 2:09.862 | 4.281 |