WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli posted the fastest time in a twice-interrupted second TCR International Series practice session at Oschersleben, which was stopped five minutes early when Danny Kroes hit the tyre barrier.
Morbidelli had posted the fastest time around ten minutes into the session, before ComtoYou Racing’s Stefano Comini took over at the head of the timesheets moments before Jens Reno Møller brought out the red flags due to beaching his Honda in the gravel at Turn 9.
When the session resumed, Morbidelli wasted little time in returning to the top of the times with an effort that saw the Italian go just half a tenth quicker than Comini to put in his best session result of the season so far.
The red flags flew for a second time with just under five minutes remaining when TCR newcomer Danny Kroes crashed his Ferry Monster Autosport SEAT into the tyre barriers at the penultimate turn, resulting in the session being called early due to the compressed timetable as a result of the morning’s power cut.
Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Dan Lloyd ended up in third, ahead of team-mates Pepe Oriola and James Nash in fourth and fifth respectively.
GE-Force’s Davit Kajaia was the leading Alfa Romeo driver in sixth, ahead of another strong showing by Stain Paulsen in seventh.
In the heaviest car on the grid, M1RA’s Roberto Colciago could only manage eighth in his Honda, ahead of Leopard Racing’s Rob Huff and DG Sport’s Mat’o Homola.
The morning’s first practice pace-setter Luca Engstler could only manage 12th fastest in what is his third session of the day already, with the young German also having qualified in fourth for the opening TCR Germany race later in the afternoon.
Championship leader Attila Tassi was just 16th after suffering from a front-left puncture on his M1RA Honda Civic.
Of note, championship challenger Jean-Karl Vernay could only manage the 19th best time in his Leopard Racing Volkswagen, as the Frenchman struggled for the second consecutive session.
Several drivers were warned about exceeding the track limits at Turn 9, including Nash, Kajai and 14th-placed Dušan Borković.
Qualifying is scheduled to take place at 15:00 CEST (14:00 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 10 | 1:32.516 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 8 | 1:32.568 | 0.052 |
| 3 | 17 | Daniel LLOYD |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 7 | 1:32.817 | 0.301 |
| 4 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 10 | 1:33.021 | 0.505 |
| 5 | 54 | James NASH | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 9 | 1:33.316 | 0.800 |
| 6 | 16 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 1:33.373 | 0.857 |
| 7 | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | SEAT León TCR | 9 | 1:33.386 | 0.870 |
| 8 | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO | |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 9 | 1:33.390 | 0.874 |
| 9 | 3 | Rob HUFF | |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 9 | 1:33.421 | 0.905 |
| 10 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 10 | 1:33.455 | 0.939 |
| 11 | 14 | Jaap VAN LAGEN |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 10 | 1:33.514 | 0.998 |
| 12 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER |  |
Junior Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 9 | 1:33.543 | 1.027 |
| 13 | 38 | Danny KROES | |
Ferry Monster Autosport | SEAT León TCR | 8 | 1:33.700 | 1.184 |
| 14 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 10 | 1:33.732 | 1.216 |
| 15 | 6 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 9 | 1:33.825 | 1.309 |
| 16 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 7 | 1:33.922 | 1.406 |
| 17 | 21 | Giacomo ALTOÈ | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 9 | 1:34.080 | 1.564 |
| 18 | 28 | Aurélien PANIS |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 8 | 1:34.092 | 1.576 |
| 19 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 7 | 1:34.385 | 1.869 |
| 20 | 66 | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 10 | 1:34.447 | 1.931 |
| 21 | 18 | Duncan ENDE |  |
Icarus Motorsports | SEAT León TCR | 6 | 1:35.319 | 2.803 |
| 22 | 55 | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | KIA Cee’d TCR | 7 | 1:35.373 | 2.857 |
| 23 | 11 | Jens Reno MØLLER |  |
Reno Racing | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 7 | 1:35.532 | 3.016 |