Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher put his first practice woes behind him to post the fastest time in second practice for the FIA TCR World Tour in Morocco, just 0.030 seconds ahead of BRC Racing’s Néstor Girolami.
The Frenchman had been just 12th fastest in first practice, having had to stop at one point when debris got caught on the front of his car.
But in second practice, the two-time WTCR champion was consistently challenging near the top, ending the session with a lap of 50.197 seconds, some six tenths quicker than the best lap of the earlier session and a second and a half quicker than he himself went in the morning.
Hyundai’s Girolami was second, three hundredths back, ahead of the leading Honda of GOAT Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri in third, just five hundredths behind his Argentine compatriot.
Santiago Urrutia, who was also off the pace in FP1, was fourth, a tenth slower than Ehrlacher.
Home hero Sami Taoufik put his Volcano Motorsport Audi in fifth, another tenth back, ahead of FP1 pace-setter Norbert Michelisz in sixth.
The second Volcano Motorsport Audi of John Filippi was seventh, ahead of 2022 WTCR champion Mikel Azcona in eighth.
The top ten, which was covered by less than half a second, was completed by GOAT Racing duo Marco Butti and Dušan Borković.
Moroccan home hero Mehdi Bennani put his new CUPRA Leon VZ in 11th, whilst 12th-placed Julien Piguet and 13th-placed Thed Björk were the only other drivers within a second of the pace in their Audi and Lynk & Co cars respectively.
Qualifying gets underway at 16:00 local time (16:00 BST, 17:00 CEST).
Session results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 23 | 50.197 | – |
| 2 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 22 | 50.227 | 0.030 |
| 3 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 26 | 50.274 | 0.077 |
| 4 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 24 | 50.301 | 0.104 |
| 5 | 212 |  |
Sami TAOUFIK | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 24 | 50.399 | 0.202 |
| 6 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 25 | 50.409 | 0.212 |
| 7 | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 30 | 50.482 | 0.285 |
| 8 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 23 | 50.509 | 0.312 |
| 9 | 199 |  |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 27 | 50.588 | 0.391 |
| 10 | 62 |  |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 24 | 50.631 | 0.434 |
| 11 | 125 | |
Mehdi BENNANI | Team Clairet Sport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 28 | 50.776 | 0.579 |
| 12 | 30 | |
Julien PIGUET | Team Clairet Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 31 | 50.901 | 0.704 |
| 13 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 26 | 51.097 | 0.900 |
| 14 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 26 | 51.261 | 1.064 |
| 15 | 41 | |
Victor FERNÁNDEZ Gil | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 27 | 52.703 | 2.506 |