Norbert Michelisz tops the times in first practice in Malaysia

Hyundai’s Norbert Michelisz topped the times in first practice for the FIA World Touring Car Cup at Sepang in Malaysia, with the championship leader pipping Honda’s Néstor Girolami to the top time by just 0.035 seconds.

Girolami emerged as the closest challenger to Michelisz’s pace, but none of the Hungarian’s title rivals were able to get close to his speed, with 15^th-placed Esteban Guerrieri the best of Michelisz’s rivals.

PWR Racing’s Mikel Azcona was third fastest in his CUPRA, just over a tenth shy, ahead of the WRT-run Audi of Jean-Karl Vernay in fourth.

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Malaysian wildcard entry Mitchell Cheah was an impressive fifth fastest in his Team Engstler Hyundai, ahead of KCMG’s Brazilian wildcard João Paulo de Oliveira in sixth in his Honda.

Frédéric Vervisch put his Comtoyou Racing Audi in seventh, ahead of reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini’s Hyundai in eighth.

The top ten was completed by the Comtoyou Racing CUPRA of Aurélien Panis and the BRC Hyundai of Nicky Catsburg.

It was a worrying session for the Lynk & Co drivers, as Andy Priaulx was the only one of the Cyan Racing quartet to break into the top twenty, in 20^th, some 1.4 seconds off the pace.

Title contenders Thed Björk and Yvan Muller were just 25^th and 26^th respectively, almost two seconds off the pace.

Session results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	5	Norbert MICHELISZ		BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai i30 N TCR	13	2:15.124	0.000
2	29	Néstor GIROLAMI		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type R TCR	11	2:15.159	0.035
3	96	Mikel AZCONA		PWR Racing	CUPRA TCR	15	2:15.237	0.113
4	69	Jean-Karl VERNAY		Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	10	2:15.418	0.294
5	27	Mitchell CHEAH Min Jie		Hyundai Team Engstler	Hyundai i30 N TCR	14	2:15.551	0.427
6	38	João Paulo Lima DE OLIVEIRA		KC Motorgroup	Honda Civic Type R TCR	13	2:15.604	0.480
7	22	Frédéric VERVISCH		Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	6	2:15.688	0.564
8	1	Gabriele TARQUINI		BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai i30 N TCR	11	2:15.694	0.570
9	21	Aurélien PANIS		Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing	CUPRA TCR	11	2:15.789	0.665
10	88	Nicky CATSBURG		BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai i30 N TCR	12	2:15.792	0.668
11	33	Benjamin LEUCHTER		SLR Volkswagen	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	12	2:15.932	0.808
12	14	Johan KRISTOFFERSSON		SLR Volkswagen	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	10	2:15.978	0.854
13	31	Kevin CECCON		Team Mulsanne	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	16	2:16.108	0.984
14	55	Ma QING HUA		Team Mulsanne	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	12	2:16.212	1.088
15	86	Esteban GUERRIERI		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type R TCR	11	2:16.410	1.286
16	10	Niels LANGEVELD		Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	13	2:16.432	1.308
17	15	Hafizh SYAHRIN Bin Abdullah		Hyundai Team Engstler	Hyundai i30 N TCR	16	2:16.526	1.402
18	37	Daniel HAGLÖF		PWR Racing	CUPRA TCR	13	2:16.563	1.439
19	18	Tiago MONTEIRO		KCMG	Honda Civic Type R TCR	12	2:16.598	1.474
20	111	Andy PRIAULX		Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	9	2:16.601	1.477
21	25	Mehdi BENNANI		SLR VW Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	15	2:16.677	1.553
22	8	Augusto FARFUS		BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai i30 N TCR	11	2:16.713	1.589
23	12	Rob HUFF		SLR VW Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	10	2:16.817	1.693
24	52	Gordon SHEDDEN		Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	2:16.872	1.748
25	11	Thed BJÖRK		Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	12	2:17.000	1.876
26	100	Yvan MULLER		Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	12	2:17.102	1.978
27	9	Attila TASSI		KCMG	Honda Civic Type R TCR	11	2:17.436	2.312
28	50	Tom CORONEL		Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing	CUPRA TCR	9	2:17.504	2.380
29	68	Yann EHRLACHER		Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	10	2:17.533	2.409
30	65	Douglas KHOO Kok Hui		Viper Niza Racing	CUPRA TCR	14	2:20.021	4.897