Photo: WTCC Media

José María López fastest in Nordschleife morning session

José María López topped the morning section of the official in-season test at the Nordschleife. The World Champion emerged to be 3.6s quicker than Citroën team-mates Ma Qing Hua and Sébastien Loeb.

Several drivers elected to go out in different cars before setting out to test their TC1 machines, including Lada drivers James Thompson and Mikhail Kozlovskiy who set their times behind the wheel of an Audi S3, and Zengo Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz.

Tom Chilton was the fastest non-Citroën driver in fourth, ahead of Yvan Muller, who took a steadier approach.

Gabriele Tarquini is the fastest Honda driver in sixth, ahead of Hugo Valente and an ever-improving Stefano d’Aste in eighth. Tiago Monteiro came ninth in his Honda Civic.

Some of the gaps are considerable, although this is mostly due to the length of the track.

The session will continue until 17.00 local time.