Gilles Magnus quickest in first Sochi practice as Audi begin WTCR title push

Gilles Magnus went fastest of all for Audi in the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup practice session, while identical mechanical failures for Jordi Gene and Bence Boldizs in the braking zone of turn one will be a cause for concern in the CUPRA garage.

Before the session got underway though, the WTCR paddock took a moment to mark the incredible career of Gabriele Tarquini. At 59 years of age, the veteran Italian – a double world touring car champion – was treated to an emotional guard of honour as he drove down the length of the pit lane. 

But, with a championship at stake, there wasn’t much time for sentiment after that. Points leader Yann Ehrlacher was the first to really get going, but eventually it was Gilles Magnus who emerged as quickest of all from the first round of laps with a benchmark of 02:19.293. Meanwhile, a big scuff down the side of Jean-Karl Vernay’s Hyundai suggested that he had certainly found the limits of the track, as had Santiago Urrutia whose Lynk & Co now had a big orange smear down the entire length of it.

Norbert Michelisz and Nestor Girolami showed that both Hyundai and Honda were quick out of the blocks too, placing second and third on the timesheets at this early stage of the session. Audi had definitely started the strongest though, as Nathanael Berthon then moved up ahead of Michelisz into second behind stablemate Magnus. 

Ehrlacher entered the mix again soon after that, going third-fastest, while fellow Lynk & Co driver Thed Bjork managed to shave a tenth of a second off Magnus’ time to go to the top of the order. That was then followed up by a great effort by Tom Coronel to go second-quickest, making it three Audis in the top five. 

Bjork’s reign didn’t last too long however, as Magnus reclaimed his top spot with a lap time of 02:18.544. 

Then, with ten minutes left to go, the session was halted as Jordi Gene slid heavily into the barriers at turn one. Having suffered either a suspension or brake failure of some sort, the rear of his CUPRA overtook the front, sending it spiralling out of control in the braking zone. Thankfully it happened at a part of the circuit with plenty of barrier cushioning, which took most of the energy out of the side-on impact. 

Proceedings did eventually get underway again, and worryingly for CUPRA, Bence Boldizs immediately endured a very similar fate to his team-mate Gene. Like the Spaniard’s car, the front axle locked up, pitching Boldizs’ CUPRA into a spin. Luckily, this instance was at a lower speed, meaning that contact with the track perimeter was avoided.

Elsewhere, there was little to report in the final minutes of Free Practice One, and so Magnus completed the session as the fastest driver of all. Bjork remained second while Berthon placed third ahead of team-mate Coronel. 

Yvan Muller wound up in fifth ahead of the first Hyundai, Luca Engstler. Vernay and Michelisz finished up in seventh and eighth, while the top ten was completed by championship leader Ehrlacher and his Lynk & Co stablemate Urrutia. 

Attila Tassi was the best of the Honda contingent in eleventh, while the Japanese marque’s title challenger Esteban Guerrieri could do no better than fifteenth. Ehrlacher’s closest points rival Frederic Vervisch was only one position further up the order. However, judging by the pace of the other Audi drivers, there should be a lot more to come from the Belgian. 

Rob Huff was the best-placed CUPRA driver in sixteenth, two seconds away from Magnus’ session-topping pace, while the wildcard entries from Lada – Mikhail Mityaev and Kirill Ladygin – went 18th and 21st respectively. 

Tiago Monteiro failed to take part in this key first practice session, citing illness; a problem which appears to be rife in the paddock this weekend, with Magnus also reportedly feeling heavily under the weather – not that you could ever tell from his pace. 

The second practice session gets underway in a couple of hours’ time at 12:30 local (09:30 GMT).

Session results

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	16		Gilles MAGNUS	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	16	2:18.544	–
2	11		Thed BJÖRK	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	15	2:19.117	0.573
3	17		Nathanaël BERTHON	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	16	2:19.149	0.605
4	32		Tom CORONEL	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	2:19.167	0.623
5	100		Yvan MULLER	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	16	2:19.538	0.994
6	8		Luca ENGSTLER	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	17	2:19.557	1.013
7	69		Jean-Karl VERNAY	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	14	2:19.600	1.056
8	5		Norbert MICHELISZ	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	13	2:19.626	1.082
9	68		Yann EHRLACHER	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	15	2:19.699	1.155
10	12		Santiago URRUTIA	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	15	2:19.746	1.202
11	9		Attila TASSI	ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	14	2:19.845	1.301
12	3		Gabriele TARQUINI	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	16	2:19.928	1.384
13	29		Néstor GIROLAMI	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	16	2:19.972	1.428
14	22		Frédéric VERVISCH	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	16	2:20.060	1.516
15	86		Esteban GUERRIERI	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	16	2:20.540	1.996
16	79		Rob HUFF	Zengő Motorsport	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	14	2:20.552	2.008
17	28		Jordi GENÉ	Zengő Motorsport	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	10	2:20.594	2.050
18	30		Mikhail MITYAEV	ROSNEFT LADA SPORT	LADA Vesta Sport TCR	13	2:21.000	2.456
19	96		Mikel AZCONA	Zengő Motorsport	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	9	2:21.090	2.546
20	55		Bence BOLDIZS	Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	13	2:21.145	2.601
21	20		Kirill LADYGIN	ROSNEFT LADA SPORT	LADA Vesta Sport TCR	16	2:21.317	2.773
22	18		Tiago MONTEIRO	ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	0	No time	N/A