BRC Racing’s Mikel Azcona and GOAT Racing’s Ignacio Montenegro topped the times in Friday’s two FIA TCR World Tour practice sessions in Valencia, with Azcona’s early afternoon time being the best of the day.
Azcona’s Hyundai team-mate Néstor Girolami had set the early pace in Free Practice 1, before Azcona went beneath the qualifying lap record set by Ruben Volt in last year’s TCR Europe finale, by going quickest with a lap of 1 minute 40.341 seconds.
Girolami ended the session in second, 0.191 seconds behind his team-mate, whilst Cyan Racing’s Ma Qing Hua was the leading Lynk & Co driver in third, 0.356 seconds adrift.
Marco Butti was the best of the wildcard entries in his GOAT Racing Honda in fourth, ahead of Santiago Urrutia’s Lynk & Co in fifth.
Wildcard entry Eric Gené was the quickest of the CUPRA drivers, putting his Monlau Motorsport-run Leon in tenth; regular TCR World Tour CUPRA driver Aurélien Comte was only 13th, exactly a second off the pace.
The top 12 were covered by under a second in the first session.
In second practice Montenegro led a Honda 1-2-3 in the times, beating wildcard entry Felipe Fernández Gil by two tenths of a second with a lap which was two and a half tenths slower than the pace earlier in the afternoon, whilst Butti was third.
However, the session was red-flagged when the other full-time GOAT Racing Honda of Esteban Guerrieri spun into the gravel at Turn 1, leaving the Argentine without an official time (although he had been 12th fastest at that stage).
Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher briefly held the top time after six minutes, but the Frenchman ended up in fourth, four tenths behind Montenegro, whilst Azcona was fifth in the later session, over six tenths slower than he had been earlier in the day.
Qualifying takes place at 11:15 CEST (10:15 BST) on Saturday.
First practice results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 1:40.341 | – |
| 2 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 8 | 1:40.532 | 0.191 |
| 3 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 1:40.697 | 0.356 |
| 4 | 11 |  |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 10 | 1:40.721 | 0.380 |
| 5 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 9 | 1:40.743 | 0.402 |
| 6 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 9 | 1:40.769 | 0.428 |
| 7 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 9 | 1:40.848 | 0.507 |
| 8 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 3 | 1:40.872 | 0.531 |
| 9 | 123 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 1:40.921 | 0.580 |
| 10 | 28 | |
Eric GENÉ Casanovas | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 14 | 1:41.136 | 0.795 |
| 11 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 8 | 1:41.266 | 0.925 |
| 12 | 27 |  |
Ruben VOLT | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 13 | 1:41.330 | 0.989 |
| 13 | 107 | |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 14 | 1:41.341 | 1.000 |
| 14 | 19 | |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 7 | 1:41.656 | 1.315 |
| 15 | 10 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 8 | 1:41.913 | 1.572 |
| 16 | 4 | |
Julien BRICHÉ | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 7 | 1:42.011 | 1.670 |
| 17 | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 13 | 1:42.417 | 2.076 |
| 18 | 45 | |
Raphaël FOURNIER | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 14 | 1:42.956 | 2.615 |
Second practice results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 123 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 1:40.608 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 19 | |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 7 | 1:40.815 | 0.207 |
| 3 | 11 | |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 8 | 1:40.827 | 0.219 |
| 4 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 1:41.038 | 0.430 |
| 5 | 196 | |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 9 | 1:41.091 | 0.483 |
| 6 | 10 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 10 | 1:41.165 | 0.557 |
| 7 | 112 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 1:41.280 | 0.672 |
| 8 | 105 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 7 | 1:41.303 | 0.695 |
| 9 | 4 | |
Julien BRICHÉ | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 8 | 1:41.400 | 0.792 |
| 10 | 27 | |
Ruben VOLT | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 1:41.537 | 0.929 |
| 11 | 28 | |
Eric GENÉ Casanovas | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 5 | 1:41.572 | 0.964 |
| 12 | 129 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 7 | 1:41.694 | 1.086 |
| 13 | 111 | |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 1:41.706 | 1.098 |
| 14 | 107 | |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 12 | 1:41.739 | 1.131 |
| 15 | 155 | |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 8 | 1:41.744 | 1.136 |
| 16 | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 9 | 1:42.771 | 2.163 |
| 17 | 45 | |
Raphaël FOURNIER | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1:42.773 | 2.165 |
| 18 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 7 | 1:41.575 | 0.967 |