Néstor Girolami leaves it late to set second practice pace

Stand-in driver Néstor Girolami topped the times in the second free practice session for TCR Europe at Circuit Paul Ricard, with the Honda driver edging out Peugeot’s Teddy Clairet by almost four tenths of a second.

Girolami, standing in this weekend for Viktor Davidovski who is unable to travel due to COVID restrictions, had been just 16^th quickest before the Argentine set the best time of all in the closing seconds, after the chequered flag had been waved.

Under sunny skies and with a track temperature of over 50 degrees, Girolami wasn’t quite able to match the pace of FP1 but proved he would be a force to be reckoned with on his début in the series.

Teddy Clairet emerged in second, the Frenchman having initially gone to the top of the times after 20 minutes in the session.

TCR Germany convert Mike Halder was third quickest in his Honda, just under fourth tenths off the pace, ahead of the second Peugeot of Jimmy Clairet in fourth.

Young Moroccan Sami Taoufik was fifth fastest in the best of the Comtoyou Racing Audis, ahead of Brutal Fish Racing’s Pepe Oriola in sixth, with the Spaniard being the last driver within a second of the pace.

First practice pace-setter Dániel Nagy was the fastest Hyundai driver in seventh, ahead of Michelle Halder in eighth.

Target Competition’s John Filippi and JSB Compétition’s Julien Briché completed the top ten, the latter being a second and a half off the pace.

Former World Touring Car racer Mehdi Bennani put his Audi in 11^th, just four thousandths ahead of the leading Brit of Brutal Fish Racing’s Dan Lloyd in 12^th.

The only other Brit in the field, Lewis Kent, was slowest of all in his Hyundai, almost four seconds off the pace in 24^th.

Qualifying is scheduled to take place at 09:00 CEST (08:00 BST) on Saturday morning, followed by race one at 12:50 CEST (11:50 BST).

Session results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	29	Néstor GIROLAMI		PSS Racing Team	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	7	2:13.332	0.000
2	20	Teddy CLAIRET		Team Clairet Sport	Peugeot 308 TCR	11	2:13.721	0.389
3	7	Mike HALDER		Profi Car Team Halder	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	10	2:13.727	0.395
4	21	Jimmy CLAIRET		Team Clairet Sport	Peugeot 308 TCR	10	2:13.837	0.505
5	25	Sami TAOUFIK		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	9	2:14.125	0.793
6	74	Pepe ORIOLA		Brutal Fish Racing Team	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	8	2:14.300	0.968
7	99	Dániel NAGY		BRC Racing Team	Hyundai i30 N TCR	10	2:14.489	1.157
8	53	Michelle HALDER		Profi Car Team Halder	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	10	2:14.545	1.213
9	27	John FILIPPI		Target Competition	Hyundai i30 N TCR	11	2:14.575	1.243
10	24	Julien BRICHÉ		JSB Compétition	Peugeot 308 TCR	12	2:14.855	1.523
11	250	Mehdi BENNANI		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	11	2:14.927	1.595
12	123	Daniel LLOYD		Brutal Fish Racing Team	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	12	2:14.931	1.599
13	8	Nicolas BAERT		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	8	2:15.075	1.743
14	16	Evgenii LEONOV		Volcano Motorsport	CUPRA TCR	11	2:15.238	1.906
15	19	Andreas BÄCKMAN		Target Competition	Hyundai i30 N TCR	9	2:15.365	2.033
16	70	Mat’o HOMOLA		BRC Racing Team	Hyundai i30 N TCR	10	2:15.599	2.267
17	17	Martin RYBA		Brutal Fish Racing Team	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	11	2:15.768	2.436
18	26	Jessica BÄCKMAN		Target Competition	Hyundai i30 N TCR	9	2:15.917	2.585
19	4	Florian BRICHÉ		JSB Compétition	Peugeot 308 TCR	12	2:16.044	2.712
20	31	Tom CORONEL		Boutsen Ginion Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	10	2:16.071	2.739
21	66	Gilles COLOMBANI		Team Clairet Sport	Peugeot 308 TCR	12	2:16.231	2.899
22	81	Stéphane VENTAJA		Team Clairet Sport	Peugeot 308 TCR	12	2:16.536	3.204
23	6	Jean Laurent NAVARRO		JSB Compétition	Peugeot 308 TCR	11	2:16.691	3.359
24	38	Lewis KENT		Essex & Kent Motorsport	Hyundai i30 N TCR	12	2:17.145	3.813