WRT’s Jean-Karl Vernay posted the fastest time in first practice for the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) on the streets of Macau, going half a second faster than the Honda of Esteban Guerrieri despite carrying the maximum 60 kg of compensation weight.
Vernay was on top of the times for much of the half-hour session, before putting in a scintillating lap time towards the end of practice to beat the lap record set by Rob Huff in 2015 by two tenths of a second.
“It’s a good start,” said Vernay. “We didn’t know where we were going to be with the 60 kg of weight but the car looks pretty good, we can still improve it a little bit.
“For sure the first sector helped us quite a lot, but it’s a good start so let’s keep pushing. Today doesn’t count, what will be important is tomorrow. Let’s keep working.”
Münnich Motorsport’s Guerrieri was second fastest, over half a second off the pace, whilst Huff – seeking a record tenth win in Macau – was the only other driver to be within a second of the pace in third.
YMR’s Yvan Muller was the first of the title contenders in fourth, 1.185 seconds off the pace, ahead of fellow Hyundai driver Norbert Michelisz in fifth.
Yann Ehrlacher put his Honda in sixth, ahead of the second YMR Hyundai of Thed Björk in seventh.
Huff’s Sébastien Loeb Racing team-mate Mehdi Bennani was eighth, just over two seconds off the pace, less than a tenth ahead of the leading CUPRA of Pepe Oriola in ninth, whilst Comtoyou Racing’s Aurélien Panis completed the top ten in his Audi.
Points leader Gabriele Tarquini was 12th fastest in his Hyundai, just under three seconds off the pace.
Teamwork Motorsport’s Kevin Tse Wing Kin was the quickest of the wildcard entries, just under 5.5 seconds from the pace in his Volkswagen Golf GTi.
Neither of the Zengő Motorsport drivers posted a time in the session, with Norbert Nagy picking up a gearbox issue whilst Zsolt Szabó did go out onto the circuit but did not post a meaningful time.
Second practice gets underway at 13:30 local time (05:30 GMT) on Thursday, whilst both qualifying sessions follow on Friday.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:31.328 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:31.903 | 0.575 |
| 3 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 10 | 2:32.297 | 0.969 |
| 4 | 48 | Yvan MULLER | |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | 2:32.513 | 1.185 |
| 5 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | 2:32.758 | 1.430 |
| 6 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 11 | 2:32.800 | 1.472 |
| 7 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 2:33.067 | 1.739 |
| 8 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 10 | 2:33.340 | 2.012 |
| 9 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 8 | 2:33.381 | 2.053 |
| 10 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 2:34.098 | 2.770 |
| 11 | 42 | Timo SCHEIDER |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 11 | 2:34.259 | 2.931 |
| 12 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | 2:34.293 | 2.965 |
| 13 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:34.356 | 3.028 |
| 14 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 8 | 2:34.530 | 3.202 |
| 15 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 2:34.562 | 3.234 |
| 16 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 2:34.727 | 3.399 |
| 17 | 16 | Luigi FERRARA | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 10 | 2:35.214 | 3.886 |
| 18 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 2:35.410 | 4.082 |
| 19 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 10 | 2:35.606 | 4.278 |
| 20 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 11 | 2:35.881 | 4.553 |
| 21 | 55 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:35.916 | 4.588 |
| 22 | 20 | Denis DUPONT | |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:35.944 | 4.616 |
| 23 | 28 | Kevin TSE Wing Kin |  |
Teamwork Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:36.819 | 5.491 |
| 24 | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:37.222 | 5.894 |
| 25 | 60 | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA | |
Champ Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS | 6 | 2:37.452 | 6.124 |
| 26 | 89 | André COUTO | |
MacPro Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:37.727 | 6.399 |
| 27 | 36 | LO Kai Fung | |
Tian Shi Zuver Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:38.280 | 6.952 |
| 28 | 6 | Rui VALENTE | |
PCT Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 10 | 2:42.958 | 11.630 |
| 29 | 77 | LAM Kam San | |
Champ Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS | 8 | 2:45.582 | 14.254 |