Giacomo Altoè set the pace in first practice for the TCR Europe Trophy at the Adria International Raceway, putting his Target Competition Honda just 0.039 seconds ahead of Hyundai’s Gabriele Tarquini.
At a dull and overcast Adria, the younger Altoè ended up as the fastest driver of the half-hour session, putting his Civic to the top of the times with just under ten minutes to go, where the 17-year-old would remain for the final minutes.
Tarquini, taking part in the event as a ‘transparent’ entry in his temporarily-homologate Hyundai, was a mere 0.039 seconds behind. The Italian proved he still had the pace to match the best newcomers, despite the 38-year age difference to the fastest driver.
Young Belgian Maxime Potty put his WRT-run Volkswagen in third, almost four tenths off the pace, ahead of TCR Germany champion Josh Files in fifth, who left it until late in the session to post a time.
TCR Iberico champion Francisco Abreu was fifth fastest, ahead of LMS Racing’s Antti Buri in sixth, who was the last driver to be within a second of the pace.
Giovanni Altoè, brother of Giacomo, was seventh, keeping his pace-setting sibling in check with a time that was only just over a second slower in his self-run Volkswagen Golf.
Luigi Ferrara put his V-Action Racing Alfa Romeo in eighth, with the Peugeot of Aurélien Comte and the Opel of Kevin Giacon rounding out the top ten, making it seven different models of car inside the top ten, with only the SEAT León not featuring in the top half of the times.
Second practice takes place at 12:00 CEST (11:00 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 21 | Giacomo ALTOÈ |  |
Target Competition | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 11 | 1:19.851 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 7 | 1:19.890 | 0.039 |
| 3 | 88 | Maxime POTTY |  |
WRT Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 16 | 1:20.229 | 0.378 |
| 4 | 99 | Josh FILES |  |
Target Competition | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 4 | 1:20.346 | 0.495 |
| 5 | 11 | Francisco ABREU |  |
Team NOVADRIVER | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 7 | 1:20.758 | 0.907 |
| 6 | 10 | Antti BURI |  |
LMS Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 1:20.768 | 0.917 |
| 7 | 52 | Givoanni ALTOÈ | |
Giovanni Altoè | Volkswagen Golf GTi DSG | 6 | 1:20.973 | 1.122 |
| 8 | 16 | Luigi FERRARA | |
V-Action Racing Team | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 16 | 1:20.974 | 1.123 |
| 9 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 Racing Cup | 15 | 1:21.221 | 1.370 |
| 10 | 5 | Kevin GIACON | |
Teconodom | Opel Astra TCR | 16 | 1:21.767 | 1.916 |
| 11 | 53 | Sandro PELATTI | |
Sandro Pelatti | Volkswagen Golf GTi DSG | 15 | 1:21.849 | 1.998 |
| 12 | 4 | Olli KANGAS | |
LMS Racing | SEAT León TCR | 16 | 1:21.990 | 2.139 |
| 13 | 77 | Denis GRIGORIEV |  |
Innocenti – AMG Motorsport | SEAT León TCR DSG | 13 | 1:22.360 | 2.509 |
| 14 | 15 | Lev TOLKACHEV | |
Innocenti – AMG Motorsport | SEAT León TCR DSG | 14 | 1:22.415 | 2.564 |
| 15 | 54 | Ermanno DIONISIO | |
Ermanno Dionisio | Audi RS3 LMS TCR DSG | 11 | 1:22.800 | 2.949 |
| 16 | 76 | Daniele CAPPELLARI | |
Daniele Cappellari | SEAT León TCR DSG | 11 | 1:23.063 | 3.212 |
| 17 | 39 | Florian THOMA |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 2:57.851 | 38.000 |
| 18 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 5:13.049 | 53.198 |
| 19 | 44 | Plamen KRALEV |  |
Kraf Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 0 | No Time | N/A |
| 20 | 55 | Giovanni BERTON | |
Giovanni Berton | Audi RS3 LMS TCR DSG | 0 | No Time | N/A |