World Touring Car Championship newcomer Esteban Guerrieri was more than a second faster than anyone else in first practice in Argentina, with Citroën’s Yvan Muller his nearest rival.
Guerrieri made use of the new tyres on his Chevrolet RML Cruze to be immediately on the pace, initially posting a time of 1 minute 44.523 seconds before then going on to improve by almost a second with his time of 1 minute 43.557 seconds.
Citroën’s Muller, who is seeking his first win of the season this weekend, was his closest challenger in second, 1.014 seconds behind.
The leading Honda was Norbert Michelisz in third, just one hundredth of a second further back, with LADA’s Gabriele Tarquini in fourth making it four different cars in the top four.
Reigning champion José María López was fifth at his home event, ahead of Brits Rob Huff and James Thompson, the latter of whom was the best Chevrolet driver on old rubber.
The second Campos Racing car of John Filippi was eighth.
The session would have featured the biggest field of the season at 19 cars, but for the late withdrawal of Uruguayan driver Mauricio Lambiris, who withdrew almost as quickly as he was announced.
In the end the usual 18 cars took to the circuit.
Second practice takes place at 11:00 local time (15:00 BST, 16:00 CEST).
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 86 | T | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 9 | 1:43.557 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 1:44.571 | 1.014 | |
| 3 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:44.595 | 1.038 | |
| 4 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 11 | 1:44.786 | 1.229 | |
| 5 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 1:44.790 | 1.233 | |
| 6 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:44.982 | 1.425 | |
| 7 | 15 | T | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 12 | 1:45.113 | 1.556 |
| 8 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 1:45.280 | 1.723 |
| 9 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 13 | 1:45.327 | 1.770 | |
| 10 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 12 | 1:45.455 | 1.898 | |
| 11 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 11 | 1:45.460 | 1.903 | |
| 12 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 1:45.469 | 1.912 |
| 13 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 1:45.482 | 1.925 |
| 14 | 63 | Robert DAHLGREN |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 11 | 1:45.568 | 2.011 | |
| 15 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 1:46.092 | 2.535 |
| 16 | 11 | T | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 1:46.480 | 2.923 |
| 17 | 99 | T | Dániel NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 8 | 1:47.845 | 4.288 |
| 18 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 4 | 1:47.974 | 4.417 |