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Norbert Michelisz tops the time sheets in WTCR practice two

Norbert Michelisz went fastest of all in WTCR Free Practice Two, just three hundredths of a second quicker than Jean-Karl Vernay who made it a 1-2 result for Hyundai.

Just as in the previous session however, Vernay was the early pace-setter with a lap time of 01:40.073 – still a few tenths shy of the time set by Mikel Azcona earlier this morning, though.

Thed Bjork then took the top spot with a lap time of 01:39.830, and it wasn’t long before Yann Ehrlacher joined him at the sharp end of the standings with a time good enough for second.

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The Cyan Racing 1-2 was short-lived though, as Azcona then split the pair of them with a lap time of 01:39.902. So far, the Spaniard had been extracting better pace out of his CUPRA than was perhaps expected given the marque’s increased compensation weight allocation for this weekend.

Hyundai’s 2021 talisman Vernay then shot up to first again with a lap time of 01:39.723. For the Frenchman’s championship aspirations, it will be important for him to be able to go toe to toe with Cyan Racing once the sessions get competitive.

Next up, it was Audi’s turn to go fastest of all. Gilles Magnus, the Junior Drivers’ championship points leader would go six tenths of a second quicker than he managed to during Practice One, but even that wasn’t enough to keep Bjork at bay as the Swede promptly overhauled the Belgian.

Even quicker still, Bjork was then beaten by team-mate Santiago Urrutia; the Uruguayan posting a lap time of 01:39.257.

As the session began to wind down, Norbert Michelisz embarked on a qualifying simulation, and in doing so went to the top of the time sheets, setting a lap time of 01:39.178 – the quickest time of the day.

Vernay would also improve again, ensuring that the session ended as a 1-2 result for Hyundai. But then, shortly after that, the session was red-flagged with just seconds left on the clock as Tom Coronel’s Audi ground to a halt.

Urrutia wound up best of the rest in third place, with fellow championship contender and Cyan Racing stablemate Ehrlacher in fifth. Azcona slotted in between the two in fourth.

Bjork and Yvan Muller made it four Lynk & Cos in the top seven, while Gabriele Tarquini – who was slowest of all in Practice One – posted the eighth fastest time of Practice Two.

Honda’s perceived struggles continued in this session, with Nestor Girolami once again the best of their bunch in ninth. Nathanael Berthon completed the top ten.

Wildcard Petr Fulin was always likely to be a bit slower in this session compared to his stunning performance in Practice One. He had been running brand new tyres earlier on in the day, compared to used ones for everybody else. However, as the track had now evolved and ‘rubbered in’, the championship’s regular teams opted for a fresher set of slicks. As a result, the local Czech driver could only manage a time good enough for eighteenth this time around, though it does mean that he’ll have brand new tyres available for qualifying.

Frederic Vervisch was unable to take part in this practice session from the get-go, with the technical issue that befell his car in Practice One proving to be quite a big task to solve. He did manage to get out on track with a few minutes to spare though, and looks in good stead to be able to take part in qualifying which gets underway today at 16:45 local time (15:45 BST).

Session results

POS NO NAT DRIVER ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME GAP
1 5 Norbert MICHELISZ BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR 14 1:39.178
2 69 Jean-Karl VERNAY Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR 14 1:39.201 0.023
3 12 Santiago URRUTIA Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 12 1:39.257 0.079
4 96 Mikel AZCONA Zengő Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competición TCR 14 1:39.271 0.093
5 68 Yann EHRLACHER Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 12 1:39.279 0.101
6 11 Thed BJÖRK Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 13 1:39.320 0.142
7 100 Yvan MULLER Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 12 1:39.383 0.205
8 3 Gabriele TARQUINI BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR 13 1:39.440 0.262
9 29 Néstor GIROLAMI ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 12 1:39.564 0.386
10 17 Nathanaël BERTHON Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 12 1:39.577 0.399
11 79 Rob HUFF Zengő Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competición TCR 12 1:39.620 0.442
12 16 Gilles MAGNUS Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 11 1:39.679 0.501
13 8 Luca ENGSTLER Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR 14 1:39.783 0.605
14 9 Attila TASSI ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 12 1:39.809 0.631
15 32 Tom CORONEL Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 12 1:39.917 0.739
16 86 Esteban GUERRIERI ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 12 1:39.950 0.772
17 18 Tiago MONTEIRO ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 13 1:40.025 0.847
18 222 Petr FULÍN Petr Fulín CUPRA Leon Competición TCR 12 1:40.239 1.061
19 55 Bence BOLDIZS Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy CUPRA Leon Competición TCR 12 1:40.785 1.607
20 22 Frédéric VERVISCH Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 6 No time N/A
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