BRC Racing’s Mikel Azcona set the pace in the opening FIA TCR World Tour practice session on the streets of Macau, ending up more than a second quicker than Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher.
Azcona went fastest on his final flying lap in the session, usurping Ehrlacher, who had held the top spot for the five minutes prior.
The Spaniard is out of contention for the overall title, which can only be won by a Lynk & Co driver, with Ehrlacher leading the championship going into the weekend by 34 points over team-mate Thed Björk.
Two-time winner on the Circuito da Guia Norbert Michelisz was third fastest in his Hyundai, a further tenth of a second adrift, ahead of the leading Honda of GOAT Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri in fourth.
BRC Racing’s Néstor Girolami was just behind his Argentine compatriot in fifth, two seconds off the pace, ahead of Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia in sixth.
Björk managed seventh, ahead of team-mate Ma Qing Hua in eighth, whilst the top ten was completed by TCR returnee Pepe Oriola’s GOAT Racing Honda and Evolve Racing’s Lo Sze Ho.
Ignacio Montenegro, making his Macau début, was 11th in his Honda, ahead of Max Hart in 12th, the Irishman returning to the Guia circuit but with a new team and car as he joins SP Compétition in a CUPRA for the weekend.
Second practice gets underway at 14:20 local time (06:20 GMT, 07:20 CET) on Thursday.
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 | 2:28.244 | – |
| 2 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 2:29.510 | 1.266 |
| 3 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:29.637 | 1.393 |
| 4 | 186 |  |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 9 | 2:30.048 | 1.804 |
| 5 | 129 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 7 | 2:30.279 | 2.035 |
| 6 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 2:30.631 | 2.387 |
| 7 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 2:30.725 | 2.481 |
| 8 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 2:31.517 | 3.273 |
| 9 | 174 | |
Pepe ORIOLA | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 8 | 2:31.837 | 3.593 |
| 10 | 281 |  |
LO Sze Ho | Evolve Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 9 | 2:32.397 | 4.153 |
| 11 | 123 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 10 | 2:32.467 | 4.223 |
| 12 | 108 |  |
Max HART | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 9 | 2:33.066 | 4.822 |
| 13 | 5 |  |
Ryan MACMILLAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:33.166 | 4.922 |
| 14 | 107 | |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 9 | 2:33.849 | 5.605 |
| 15 | 30 | |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:34.577 | 6.333 |
| 16 | 288 |  |
Sean CHANG Chien Shang | RevX Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 8 | 2:35.582 | 7.338 |
| 17 | 69 | |
Andy LIANG Wenyao | Eurasia Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 3 | 3:01.797 | 33.553 |