Tom Coronel comfortably set the pace in the opening TCR Europe free practice session at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday morning, with the Comtoyou Racing Audi driver three tenths of a second clear of Isidro Callejas’ CUPRA.
The pace was set early on by Target Competition’s Josh Files, with the Hyundai driver initially lapping in 2 minutes 31.827 seconds in the first ten minutes.
The top time was soon taken over by Brutal Fish Racing’s Pepe Oriola with a 2:31.489, before Callejas then went fastest three minutes later with his effort of 2:31.482.
That time then stood for five minutes before Coronel put his Audi at the top of the timesheets, initially with a lap of 2:31.445 before he improved to a 2:31.184.
Callejas ultimately didn’t improve his lap after having gone fastest earlier on, so he was second quickest, 0.298 seconds further back.
Oriola too didn’t improve, leaving the Spaniard in third, just 0.007 seconds further behind.
Janík Motorsport’s Mat’o Homola was fourth fastest as the best Hyundai driver, just ahead of the quickest Target Hyundai of Nicola Baldan in fifth.
Jáchym Galáš put his Janík Hyundai in sixth, whilst Files ended up in seventh having not improved his time in the final half of the session.
He was followed by Target team-mate Felice Jelmini in eighth, ahead of championship leader Franco Girolami in ninth and the fastest Halder Motorsport car of Jack Young in tenth.
Second practice is scheduled to take place at 13:30 CEST (12:30 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 |  |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 6 | 2:31.184 | – |
| 2 | 26 |  |
Isidro CALLEJAS | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 9 | 2:31.482 | 0.298 |
| 3 | 74 | |
Pepe ORIOLA | Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 8 | 2:31.489 | 0.305 |
| 4 | 70 |  |
Mat’o HOMOLA | Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:31.507 | 0.323 |
| 5 | 8 |  |
Nicola BALDAN | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:31.606 | 0.422 |
| 6 | 24 |  |
Jáchym GALÁŠ | Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:31.791 | 0.607 |
| 7 | 99 |  |
Josh FILES | Target Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 2:31.827 | 0.643 |
| 8 | 44 | |
Felice JELMINI | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:31.932 | 0.748 |
| 9 | 72 |  |
Franco GIROLAMI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 9 | 2:31.968 | 0.784 |
| 10 | 62 | |
Jack YOUNG | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 9 | 2:32.308 | 1.124 |
| 11 | 14 |  |
Klim GAVRILOV | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 10 | 2:32.361 | 1.177 |
| 12 | 16 | |
Evgenii LEONOV | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 10 | 2:32.720 | 1.536 |
| 13 | 27 |  |
John FILIPPI | Sébastien Loeb Racing – Bardahl Team | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 9 | 2:33.164 | 1.980 |
| 14 | 7 |  |
Mike HALDER | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 10 | 2:33.216 | 2.032 |
| 15 | 53 | |
Michelle HALDER | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 8 | 2:33.757 | 2.573 |
| 16 | 19 | |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | RC2 Junior Team | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 11 | 2:33.844 | 2.660 |
| 17 | 3 | |
Giacomo GHERMANDI | Lema Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 11 | 2:33.990 | 2.806 |
| 18 | 110 |  |
Viktor DAVIDOVSKI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 9 | 2:34.276 | 3.092 |
| 19 | 17 | |
Martin RYBA | Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 11 | 2:34.301 | 3.117 |
| 20 | 37 |  |
Sergio LÓPEZ | RC2 Junior Team | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 11 | 2:34.787 | 3.603 |
| 21 | 111 | |
Marco BUTTI | Élite Motorsport by Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 2 | 3:03.508 | 28.721 |
| 22 | 12 | |
Rubén FERNÁNDEZ Gil | RC2 Junior Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 0 | No time | N/A |
| 23 | 46 |  |
Caren BURTON | Burton Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |