Duŝan Borković’s Alfa Romeo Giuilietta set the pace during the opening TCR International Series practice session at the Salzburgring.
Borković clocked a fastest lap time of 1:26.356 to eclipse championship contender Jean-Karl Vernay’s Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI by a tenth of a second.
Daniel Lloyd was classified third on his debut for Craft-Bamboo Racing after a mid-week switch from the works MG British Touring Car Championship programme, just 0.012 seconds adrift.
Ferenz Ficza became the second Hungarian driver in two days to crash at the 2.63 mile circuit, exiting the circuit at Turn 9 with a heavy impact into the barriers. Ficza escaped unhurt, but the armco repairs delayed the session.
Early morning showers had dampened the track surface, with Ficza’s red flag providing an opportunity for conditions to improve, and lap times to subsequently drop.
That led to improvements from Comini, Jager, Homola, Comini and Borković, with six models of car represented in the top seven in the classification.
Milovan Vesinić’s Audi, meanwhile, failed to make the session with a brake problem.
“We have worked on the car with the focus not on lap times but on improving some things,” said Borković.
“I didn’t expect to be fastest, to be honest, as everyone was quicker then yesterday because of the lower temperatures and more grip.
“You never know what other people are doing with tyres, so we will find out what’s going on in Qualifying,”
The second free practice session at the Salzburgring gets underway at 12:00 GMT.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 14 | 1:26.356 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 16 | 1:26.499 | 0.143 |
| 3 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 16 | 1:26.544 | 0.188 |
| 4 | 17 | Daniel LLOYD |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 1:26.556 | 0.200 |
| 5 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 16 | 1:26.608 | 0.252 |
| 6 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 1:26.633 | 0.277 |
| 7 | 66 | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 14 | 1:26.716 | 0.360 |
| 8 | 21 | Giacomo ALTOÈ | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 1:26.793 | 0.437 |
| 9 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 14 | 1:26.846 | 0.490 |
| 10 | 35 | Thomas JÄGER |  |
Team Kissling Motorsport | Opel Astra TCR | 12 | 1:26.858 | 0.502 |
| 11 | 54 | James NASH | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 13 | 1:26.889 | 0.533 |
| 12 | 11 | Jens Reno MØLLER |  |
Reno Racing | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 14 | 1:27.017 | 0.661 |
| 13 | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | SEAT León TCR | 13 | 1:27.027 | 0.671 |
| 14 | 16 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 15 | 1:27.036 | 0.680 |
| 15 | 18 | Duncan ENDE |  |
Icarus Motorsports | SEAT León TCR | 12 | 1:27.078 | 0.722 |
| 16 | 6 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 1:27.170 | 0.814 |
| 17 | 3 | Rob HUFF | |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 15 | 1:27.193 | 0.837 |
| 18 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 9 | 1:27.226 | 0.870 |
| 19 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 1:27.231 | 0.875 |
| 20 | 55 | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zele Racing | SEAT León TCR | 5 | 1:27.272 | 0.916 |
| 21 | 36 | Enrico BETTERA | |
Pit Lane Competizioni | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 1:29.233 | 2.877 |
| 22 | 32 | Luigi FERRARA | |
Top Run Motorsport | Subaru WRX STi TCR | 12 | 1:30.347 | 3.991 |