Mikel Azcona put in the quickest lap of all during Friday’s FIA TCR World Tour free practice sessions at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with team-mate Néstor Girolami topping the day’s earlier session.
The first session got underway ta 08:15 local time, with BRC Racing’s Girolami emerging with the quickest lap, a time of 1 minute 30.090 seconds.
That left the Argentine 0.236 seconds clear of team-mate Azcona, with reigning champion Norbert Michelisz in third, a further tenth of a second back.
Azcona upped the pace in second practice later in the day, as he went around 1.4 seconds quicker than in the morning, this time ahead of Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk in the leading Lynk & Co.
Ultimately the times from second practice were more representative as drivers learned the circuit and got to sample the track at a warmer time of day.
Michelisz was third in FP2, ahead of the next Cyan Racing car of Ma Qing Hua in fourth, just under two tenths of a second from Azcona.
Santiago Urrutia was fifth behind his team-mate, with first practice pace-setter Girolami in sixth.
GOAT Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri immediately followed his compatriot as the quickest Honda driver, ahead of the only other driver within a second of the pace, that of Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher.
The top ten was completed by GOAT Racing’s Marco Butti and Dušan Borković.
The fastest Audi driver was Volcano Motorsport’s John Filippi in 11th. The Corsican has a new team-mate this weekend, with Megan Tomlinson, the second female announced to race in the series, being a late replacement for Sami Taoufik.
IMSA regulars Mark Wilkins and Harry Gottsacker got closer to the pace in second practice, being 12th and 13th respectively and 1.7 and 2.2 seconds off the pace, having had to get used to new tyres, as they regularly race on Michelins but have to use Kumho tyres in the TCR World Tour sessions.
Cyan Racing drivers Ehrlacher and Urrutia have also had grid penalties confirmed for race one. Both drivers receive 12-place penalties for engine changes, but Ehrlacher has an additional three-place penalty for an incident in Marrakech, meaning he is guaranteed to start last.
Qualifying takes place at 16:25 local time (22:25 CEST, 21:25 BST).
First practice results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 15 | 1:30.090 | – |
| 2 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 14 | 1:30.326 | 0.236 |
| 3 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 14 | 1:30.403 | 0.313 |
| 4 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 17 | 1:30.712 | 0.622 |
| 5 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 15 | 1:30.737 | 0.647 |
| 6 | 62 |  |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 15 | 1:30.855 | 0.765 |
| 7 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 15 | 1:30.861 | 0.771 |
| 8 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 14 | 1:30.888 | 0.798 |
| 9 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 1:31.074 | 0.984 |
| 10 | 199 |  |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 1:31.627 | 1.537 |
| 11 | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 16 | 1:32.018 | 1.928 |
| 12 | 98 |  |
Mark WILKINS | Bryan Herta Autosport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 1:32.458 | 2.368 |
| 13 | 38 |  |
Harry GOTTSACKER | Bryan Herta Autosport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 1:35.039 | 4.949 |
| 14 | 92 | |
Megan TOMLINSON | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 15 | 1:36.919 | 6.829 |
| 15 | 72 | |
Riley PEGRAM | Pegram Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 17 | 1:37.929 | 7.839 |
Second practice results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 196 | |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 1:28.746 | – |
| 2 | 111 | |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 14 | 1:28.803 | 0.057 |
| 3 | 105 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 1:28.807 | 0.061 |
| 4 | 155 | |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 13 | 1:28.922 | 0.176 |
| 5 | 112 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 1:28.993 | 0.247 |
| 6 | 129 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 1:29.130 | 0.384 |
| 7 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 13 | 1:29.222 | 0.476 |
| 8 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 1:29.361 | 0.615 |
| 9 | 199 | |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 1:29.777 | 1.031 |
| 10 | 62 | |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 15 | 1:30.146 | 1.400 |
| 11 | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 8 | 1:30.435 | 1.689 |
| 12 | 98 | |
Mark WILKINS | Bryan Herta Autosport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 1:30.496 | 1.750 |
| 13 | 38 | |
Harry GOTTSACKER | Bryan Herta Autosport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 14 | 1:30.978 | 2.232 |
| 14 | 92 | |
Megan TOMLINSON | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 16 | 1:31.846 | 3.100 |
| 15 | 72 | |
Riley PEGRAM | Pegram Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 16 | 1:36.901 | 8.155 |