Thed Björk put the new Lynk & Co 03 TCR car at the top of the times in second practice for the FIA World Touring Car Cup in Marrakech, heading off the Honda of Esteban Guerrieri by just under a tenth of a second.
Swede Björk hit the top of the timesheets after just under 25 minutes of the half hour session, putting in a best time of 1 minute 25.308 seconds to go half a second faster than the earlier pace in first practice.
The session took place on a much drier track than earlier in the morning, allowing drivers to push harder on the tight twisty street circuit.
“It was changing circumstances and I managed to be on the track at the right time with my tyres,” said Björk. “I’m really not 100% sure where we are, but I have a good feeling in the car and usually then it works, so I can only work on the feeling and drive.
“It’s going to be a hard year, this is just the start, but it’s always nice to be first on the page. It’s good for the driver, the focus is working, and you know what you’re doing with the car so it’s always nice.”
Guerrieri put his Münnich Motorsport Civic in second, having moments earlier briefly held the top time.
No drivers improved in the final five minutes of the session, as the red flags flew when both WRT’s Gordon Shedden and Comtoyou Racing’s Tom Coronel picked up punctures, the latter briefly stopping on track and causing the delay.
Yvan Muller hauled his Lynk & Co up to third towards the end of the running, whilst Norbert Michelisz was the fastest of the BRC Hyundai drivers in fourth.
Tiago Monteiro once again performed well in his KCMG-run Honda in fifth, ahead of reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini in sixth, with the Hyundai driver being just over three tenths off the pace.
Yann Ehrlacher made it three Lynk & Cos inside the top ten with seventh, ahead of the morning’s early pace-setter Aurélien Panis in eighth.
The top ten was rounded out by PWR Racing’s Mikel Azcona and WRT’s Jean-Karl Vernay.
Qualifying for race one takes place at 13:00 local time (13:00 BST, 14:00 CEST) followed by race one at 16:50 local time (16:50 BST, 17:50 BST) with the race being shown live online at BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport websites.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 12 | 1:25.308 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 12 | 1:25.402 | 0.094 |
| 3 | 100 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 9 | 1:25.440 | 0.132 |
| 4 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 1:25.498 | 0.190 |
| 5 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 17 | 1:25.510 | 0.202 |
| 6 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 8 | 1:25.625 | 0.317 |
| 7 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 15 | 1:25.736 | 0.428 |
| 8 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 14 | 1:25.754 | 0.446 |
| 9 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 17 | 1:25.766 | 0.458 |
| 10 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 13 | 1:25.776 | 0.468 |
| 11 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 1:25.831 | 0.523 |
| 12 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 12 | 1:25.849 | 0.541 |
| 13 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 17 | 1:25.857 | 0.549 |
| 14 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 13 | 1:25.858 | 0.550 |
| 15 | 8 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 1:25.899 | 0.591 |
| 16 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 1:25.967 | 0.659 |
| 17 | 50 | Tom CORONEL | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 13 | 1:26.023 | 0.715 |
| 18 | 9 | Attila TASSI | |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 17 | 1:26.031 | 0.723 |
| 19 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 10 | 1:26.118 | 0.810 |
| 20 | 14 | Johan KRISTOFFERSSON | |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 15 | 1:26.126 | 0.818 |
| 21 | 37 | Daniel HAGLÖF | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 13 | 1:26.151 | 0.843 |
| 22 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 1:26.184 | 0.876 |
| 23 | 111 | Andy PRIAULX | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 14 | 1:26.200 | 0.892 |
| 24 | 55 | Ma QING HUA |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 15 | 1:26.357 | 1.049 |
| 25 | 10 | Niels LANGEVELD | |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 1:26.472 | 1.164 |
| 26 | 33 | Benjamin LEUCHTER |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 1:26.844 | 1.536 |