Macau master Rob Huff was comfortably the fastest driver in practice for the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) in Macau, the Volkswagen driver setting a time in second practice that was half a second faster than Münnich Motorsport’s Yann Ehrlacher.
Vernay had earlier topped first practice but Huff went over a second and a half quicker in FP2, which saw most drivers improve on their times from earlier in the day.
In the end Huff’s best, posted in the final ten minutes of the session, was over 1.5 seconds quicker than Vernay’s lap record-smashing time from first practice and enough to see the Sébastien Loeb Racing driver comfortably clear at the top of the times.
Ehrlacher was the best of the Honda drivers, whilst title contender Yvan Muller as the quickest of the Hyundais in third, 0.682 seconds shy of Huff’s time.
Vernay kept himself in contention by going fourth, ahead of the second SLR Volkswagen of Mehdi Bennani in fifth and Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri in sixth.
Thed Björk – who still has chance at taking the title – put his YMR Hyundai in seventh, ahead of the BRC Racing duo of Norbert Michelisz and Gabriele Tarquini in eighth and ninth respectively.
Boutsen Ginion Racing’s Ma Qing Hua completed the top ten in his Honda, just under two seconds off the pace.
Both Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo drivers improved from their first practice efforts, with Kevin Ceccon up to 12th, 2.2 seconds off the pace, and Luigi Ferrara 17th, just over three seconds away from the top time.
Following gearbox dramas in first practice, Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Nagy managed to post a time in second practice together with team-mate Zsolt Szabó, and they ended up in 28th and 30th respectively.
There is no further track action on Thursday; both qualifying sessions take place on Friday at 08:50 and 13:35 local time respectively (00:50 and 05:35 GMT).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 10 | 2:29.766 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:30.299 | 0.533 |
| 3 | 48 | Yvan MULLER | |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | 2:30.448 | 0.682 |
| 4 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:30.450 | 0.684 |
| 5 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 2:30.540 | 0.774 |
| 6 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:30.571 | 0.805 |
| 7 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | 2:30.885 | 1.119 |
| 8 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | 2:31.013 | 1.247 |
| 9 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | 2:31.594 | 1.828 |
| 10 | 55 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:31.740 | 1.974 |
| 11 | 42 | Timo SCHEIDER |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:31.824 | 2.058 |
| 12 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 2:32.007 | 2.241 |
| 13 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 5 | 2:32.084 | 2.318 |
| 14 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 2:32.234 | 2.468 |
| 15 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 9 | 2:32.434 | 2.668 |
| 16 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:32.551 | 2.785 |
| 17 | 16 | Luigi FERRARA | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 8 | 2:32.837 | 3.071 |
| 18 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:33.040 | 3.274 |
| 19 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 11 | 2:33.234 | 3.468 |
| 20 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 8 | 2:33.305 | 3.539 |
| 21 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:33.320 | 3.554 |
| 22 | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:33.775 | 4.009 |
| 23 | 20 | Denis DUPONT | |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 4 | 2:34.864 | 5.098 |
| 24 | 89 | André COUTO |  |
MacPro Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:36.030 | 6.264 |
| 25 | 60 | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA | |
Champ Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:36.652 | 6.886 |
| 26 | 36 | LO Kai Fung | |
Tian Shi Zuver Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 2:37.545 | 7.779 |
| 27 | 28 | Kevin TSE Wing Kin | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 2:38.388 | 8.622 |
| 28 | 8 | Norbert NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 7 | 2:38.457 | 8.691 |
| 29 | 6 | Rui VALENTE | |
PCT Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 2:41.160 | 11.394 |
| 30 | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 5 | 2:41.282 | 11.516 |
| 31 | 77 | LAM Kam San | |
Champ Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:43.080 | 13.314 |