Honda’s Norbert Michelisz was fastest in the first test session for the World Touring Car Championship on the streets of Vila Real in Portugal, marginally quicker than Citroën’s Yvan Muller.
Having been fastest early on in the session, Michelisz returned to the top of the times in the closing minutes to move ahead of team-mate Rob Huff, who had held the advantage with a 1:58.891 with only a minute left.
The Citroën of Muller then went second fastest in the closing seconds, just 0.087 seconds slower than the Hungarian, to knock Huff down to third position.
Reigning champion José María López remained near the sharp end during the session and ended up in fourth, ahead of LADA duo Hugo Valente and Nicky Catsburg, who are both carrying 70 kg of compensation weight for the first time.
Seventh-placed Tom Chilton was the best of the Independent Trophy runners, putting his Sébastien Loeb Racing C-Elysée just over two and a half seconds off the pace, ahead of local hero Tiago Monteiro in eighth.
Cyan Racing’s Robert Dahlgren, making his first WTCC appearance since 2011, finished the session in 14th position, over six seconds off the pace on what is also his first run on the tricky high-speed Portuguese street circuit.
This weekend will see the WTCC début of Dániel Nagy, who is racing for Zengő Motorsport. The Hungarian failed to take part in the session as his team put the final finishing touches to their second Honda Civic.
Saturday’s on-track action kicks off with first practice at 09:00 WEST / BST.
More to follow.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:58.673 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 1:58.760 | 0.087 | |
| 3 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:58.891 | 0.218 | |
| 4 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 8 | 1:59.960 | 1.287 | |
| 5 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 9 | 2:00.962 | 2.289 | |
| 6 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 11 | 2:01.010 | 2.337 | |
| 7 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 2:01.249 | 2.576 |
| 8 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 10 | 2:01.894 | 3.221 | |
| 9 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 12 | 2:02.441 | 3.768 | |
| 10 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 12 | 2:02.478 | 3.805 |
| 11 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 11 | 2:02.601 | 3.928 | |
| 12 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 2:03.413 | 4.740 |
| 13 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 2:04.035 | 5.362 |
| 14 | 63 | Robert DAHLGREN | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 11 | 2:04.945 | 6.272 | |
| 15 | 11 | T | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 2:05.277 | 6.604 |
| 16 | 15 | T | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 12 | 2:05.492 | 6.819 |
| 17 | 55 | T | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 5 | 2:06.426 | 7.753 |
| 18 | 99 | T | Dániel NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 0 | No time | N/A |