Johan Kristoffersson lead a Volkswagen 1-2 in second practice for the FIA World Touring Car Cup at Suzuka in Japan, as rain and red flags continued to interrupt the running.
Kristoffersson was one of just three drivers to post a lap time of less than a minute around the short Suzuka East course, edging out SLR team-mate Rob Huff by just 0.134 seconds.
Lynk & Co’s Thed Björk was third quickest, just 0.030 seconds further back, as times improved slightly from those in the first practice session, which was also hit by heavy rain.
The weather caused two red-flag stoppages. Ma Qing Hua went off on an out lap with just ten minutes remaining, with the Chinese driver explaining that the conditions were very difficult: “I just exited the pitlane and immediately the wheel was gone,” said Ma. “The track conditions are very demanding. There is a lot of water.”
When the session resumed, it was Vervisch, second fastest in the first session, who went off at Turn 2 and brought another halt to proceedings. Vervisch was lucky to avoid contact with Kristoffersson, who had moments earlier also gone off the track.
The Swede then went on to post the quickest lap inside the final few minutes, as conditions improved slightly to allow quicker times to come in.
Vervisch ended the session in fourth in his Comtoyou Racing Audi, ahead of the leading Honda of Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri in fifth.
Tiago Monteiro was sixth in his KCMG Honda, ahead of first practice pace-setter Niels Langeveld in seventh.
Ritomo Miyata was once again the best of the wildcard entries in eighth in his Team Hitotsuyama Audi, whilst the top ten was completed by PWR Racing’s Mikel Azcona and Lynk & Co Cyan Racing’s Andy Priaulx.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 14 | Johan KRISTOFFERSSON |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 22 | 59.814 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 23 | 59.948 | 0.134 |
| 3 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 20 | 59.978 | 0.164 |
| 4 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 16 | 1:00.033 | 0.219 |
| 5 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 17 | 1:00.046 | 0.232 |
| 6 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 22 | 1:00.049 | 0.235 |
| 7 | 10 | Niels LANGEVELD |  |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 23 | 1:00.053 | 0.239 |
| 8 | 77 | Ritomo MIYATA |  |
Audi Team Hitotsuyama | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 21 | 1:00.112 | 0.298 |
| 9 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 26 | 1:00.121 | 0.307 |
| 10 | 111 | Andy PRIAULX | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 22 | 1:00.175 | 0.361 |
| 11 | 7 | Ryuichiro TOMITA | |
Audi Team Hitotsuyama | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 19 | 1:00.177 | 0.363 |
| 12 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 16 | 1:00.196 | 0.382 |
| 13 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 22 | 1:00.256 | 0.442 |
| 14 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 23 | 1:00.257 | 0.443 |
| 15 | 8 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 23 | 1:00.290 | 0.476 |
| 16 | 100 | Yvan MULLER | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 23 | 1:00.292 | 0.478 |
| 17 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 18 | 1:00.329 | 0.515 |
| 18 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 24 | 1:00.357 | 0.543 |
| 19 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG | |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 21 | 1:00.379 | 0.565 |
| 20 | 50 | Tom CORONEL | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 17 | 1:00.402 | 0.588 |
| 21 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 22 | 1:00.404 | 0.590 |
| 22 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 24 | 1:00.435 | 0.621 |
| 23 | 37 | Daniel HAGLÖF | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 19 | 1:00.454 | 0.640 |
| 24 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 19 | 1:00.587 | 0.773 |
| 25 | 55 | Ma QING HUA |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 1:00.637 | 0.823 |
| 26 | 33 | Benjamin LEUCHTER |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 21 | 1:00.707 | 0.893 |
| 27 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 23 | 1:01.019 | 1.205 |
| 28 | 19 | Jim KA TO |  |
KC Motorgroup | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 12 | 1:01.473 | 1.659 |
| 29 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |