YMR’s Thed Björk was the fastest driver in Friday’s first free practice session for the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) at the Ningbo International Speedpark, almost a second ahead of fellow Hyundai driver Norbert Michelisz.
Björk hit the top of the times after 18 minutes, putting his i30 N firmly at the top of the timesheets under clear and sunny skies at the new Chinese circuit – the first dry running for any driver after last year’s WTCC washout.
Only two other drivers were within a second of the reigning WTCC champion’s pace, with BRC Racing’s Michelisz heading them up ahead of the Münnich Motorsport Honda of Esteban Guerrieri in third.
Guerrieri went on to cause the first of two red-flags in the session when he went off into the gravel with seven and a half minutes to go.
Comtoyou Racing’s Frédéric Vervisch claimed bragging rights amongst the Audi drivers by going fourth fastest, ahead of the Leopard Lukoil RS3 of Jean-Karl Vernay in fifth. Vernay ultimately caused the end of the session with three minutes left on the clock when his Audi stopped at the exit of Turn 9 with a mechanical issue.
Chinese racer Ma Qing Hua is making his WTCR début this weekend and put his Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda in sixth, ahead of the best Volkswagen of Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani in seventh.
Points leader Gabriele Tarquini put his BRC Racing Hyundai in eighth fastest, whilst Münnich Motorsport’s newcomer Timo Scheider was an impressive ninth fastest, with the two-time DTM champion being 1.734 seconds off the pace in his Honda.
The second SLR Volkswagen of Rob Huff completed the top ten.
Yvan Muller only completed three laps in his Hyundai before a power steering issue cut short his session, with his YMR mechanics working to fix the issue for the remainder of the session.
Second practice, the only other WTCR track time on Friday, is scheduled to take place at 15:20 local time (08:20 BST, 09:20 CEST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 8 | 1:52.128 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 8 | 1:53.099 | 0.971 |
| 3 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 7 | 1:53.102 | 0.974 |
| 4 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 1:53.199 | 1.071 |
| 5 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 1:53.397 | 1.269 |
| 6 | 55 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 9 | 1:53.417 | 1.289 |
| 7 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 8 | 1:53.449 | 1.321 |
| 8 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | 1:53.473 | 1.345 |
| 9 | 42 | Timo SCHEIDER |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 1:53.862 | 1.734 |
| 10 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 7 | 1:53.868 | 1.740 |
| 11 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 1:53.975 | 1.847 |
| 12 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 1:54.169 | 2.041 |
| 13 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 8 | 1:54.178 | 2.050 |
| 14 | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 9 | 1:54.191 | 2.063 |
| 15 | 20 | Denis DUPONT | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 1:54.426 | 2.298 |
| 16 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 10 | 1:54.500 | 2.372 |
| 17 | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 1:54.567 | 2.439 |
| 18 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 8 | 1:54.586 | 2.458 |
| 19 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 1:54.705 | 2.577 |
| 20 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 7 | 1:54.755 | 2.627 |
| 21 | 88 | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 9 | 1:54.783 | 2.655 |
| 22 | 8 | Norbert NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 9 | 1:55.044 | 2.916 |
| 23 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 8 | 1:55.271 | 3.143 |
| 24 | 48 | Yvan MULLER | |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 2:03.359 | 11.231 |
| 25 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 7 | 2:04.405 | 12.277 |