Lynk & Co Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk topped the times in Friday’s two FIA TCR World Tour practice sessions at the Inje Speedium circuit in South Korea, with the Hyundai’s of Josh Buchan and local racer Junui Park also going strongly.
Björk posted the fastest time of the day overall in the second session, lapping in 1 minute 40.906 seconds, the only driver below the 1:41.0 mark all day.
Solite Indigo Racing’s Junui Park had earlier topped first practice with a lap of 1:41.062, which ultimately proved to be the day’s second quickest time.
Until that stage, BRC Racing’s Mikel Azcona had been quickest but ultimately was second fastest in FP1, four tenths of a second slower than Park.
TCR Australia’s Josh Buchan was fourth fastest in FP1, completing a Hyundai top-four lockout, with the HMO Customer Racing driver improving to second in FP2, just under two tenths off the pace.
Santiago Urrutia was third quickest in FP2, 0.453 seconds adrift, which gave the Uruguayan the fourth-best time of the day.
Championship leader Yann Ehrlacher was fifth quickest in FP1, just over a second off the pace, although the Frenchman went quicker by more than three tenths of a second in FP2, where he was sixth behind Hyundai’s Mikel Azcona.
Series returnee Dušan Borković was sixth in FP1 as the top Honda driver, tied on time with Ehrlacher, although GOAT Racing team-mate Esteban Guerrieri ended the day as the quickest of the Civic racers having posted the fourth-best time in FP2.
SP Compétition is once again fielding just one CUPRA this weekend, with Aurélien Comte seventh in FP1 with a lap of 1:42.098, over a second off the pace, before falling to 15th in second practice.
The FIA TCR World Tour field is joined by three South Korean drivers as guest entries this weekend, on the occasion of the first-ever international touring car event in South Korea.
Solite Indo Racing duo Junui Park and Junesung Park will both be in Hyundai Elantra N cars, whilst Choi Jeong Weon is also in an Elantra, run by KMSA Motorsport N.
Choi caused a delay in FP1 when his car stopped at Turn 7 with an engine issue, which prevented him from setting a time in FP2.
The field is also joined by TCR Asia drivers for the first time in 2025 – Sean Chang Chien Shang leads the contingent as the championship leader in his RevX Racing Audi, whilst Z Speed’s Benny Santoso and Diego Moran’s self-run Honda will also be amongst the front-runners in the regional battle.
Qualifying is scheduled to get underway at 10:00 local time on Saturday (02:00 BST, 03:00 CEST) followed by race one at 16:05 local time (08:05 BST, 09:05 CEST).
Races two and three will take place on Sunday; the top ten result from race one will form the race two grid, whilst race three will see a starting order determined by the points scored across qualifying and the first two races.
First practice results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 87 |  |
Junui PARK | Solite Indigo Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 8 | 1:41.062 | – |
| 2 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 1:41.486 | 0.424 |
| 3 | 97 | |
Junesung PARK | Solite Indigo Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 7 | 1:41.575 | 0.513 |
| 4 | 30 |  |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1:41.821 | 0.759 |
| 5 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 1:42.078 | 1.016 |
| 6 | 62 |  |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 1:42.078 | 1.016 |
| 7 | 107 | |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 11 | 1:42.098 | 1.036 |
| 8 | 5 | |
Ryan MACMILLAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 1:42.141 | 1.079 |
| 9 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 9 | 1:42.196 | 1.134 |
| 10 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 9 | 1:42.606 | 1.544 |
| 11 | 3 | |
CHOI Jeongweon | KMSA Motorsport N | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 3 | 1:42.684 | 1.622 |
| 12 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 1:42.688 | 1.626 |
| 13 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 1:42.699 | 1.637 |
| 14 | 23 |  |
Diego MORAN | DM23 Ecuador Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 8 | 1:42.915 | 1.853 |
| 15 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 9 | 1:43.106 | 2.044 |
| 16 | 281 |  |
LO Sze Ho | Evolve Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | 1:43.124 | 2.062 |
| 17 | 123 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 1:43.157 | 2.095 |
| 18 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 1:43.238 | 2.176 |
| 19 | 288 |  |
Sean CHANG Chien Shang | RevX Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 10 | 1:44.176 | 3.114 |
| 20 | 56 |  |
Benny SANTOSO | Z Speed Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 1:44.952 | 3.890 |
| 21 | 381 |  |
Reinghbert G. DIWA | Eurasia Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 8 | 1:45.299 | 4.237 |
| 22 | 69 | |
Andy LIANG Wenyao | Eurasia Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 1 | No time | N/A |
Second practice results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 111 | |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 1:40.906 | – |
| 2 | 30 | |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 8 | 1:41.100 | 0.194 |
| 3 | 112 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 1:41.359 | 0.453 |
| 4 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 1:41.618 | 0.712 |
| 5 | 196 | |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1:41.688 | 0.782 |
| 6 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 1:41.702 | 0.796 |
| 7 | 97 | |
Junesung PARK | Solite Indigo Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 9 | 1:41.821 | 0.915 |
| 8 | 129 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 1:41.987 | 1.081 |
| 9 | 5 | |
Ryan MACMILLAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 1:42.171 | 1.265 |
| 10 | 87 | |
Junui PARK | Solite Indigo Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 1:42.222 | 1.316 |
| 11 | 155 | |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 1:42.260 | 1.354 |
| 12 | 105 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 1:42.337 | 1.431 |
| 13 | 123 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 8 | 1:42.757 | 1.851 |
| 14 | 23 | |
Diego MORAN | DM23 Ecuador Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 9 | 1:42.772 | 1.866 |
| 15 | 107 | |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 13 | 1:42.779 | 1.873 |
| 16 | 281 | |
LO Sze Ho | Evolve Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:43.153 | 2.247 |
| 17 | 56 | |
Benny SANTOSO | Z Speed Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 1:43.560 | 2.654 |
| 18 | 62 | |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 13 | 1:43.651 | 2.745 |
| 19 | 288 | |
Sean CHANG Chien Shang | RevX Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 14 | 1:43.931 | 3.025 |
| 20 | 381 | |
Reinghbert G. DIWA | Eurasia Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1:45.519 | 4.613 |
| 21 | 3 | |
CHOI Jeongweon | KMSA Motorsport N | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |
| 22 | 69 | |
Andy LIANG Wenyao | Eurasia Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |