José María López fastest in Vallelunga test day

José María López clocked the best lap time of the day in the final session of the official FIA World Touring Car Championship day in Vallelunga, Italy. The Argentinian posted a 1:37.123 despite a green track after showers hit the track for most of the day.

Fellow Citroën Racing driver Yvan Muller was second after setting his best time this morning during the first session, like all the rest of the field.

As a result, Thed Björk goes down to third in his Volvo S60, with Mehdi Bennani fourth in his Sébastien Loeb Racing C-Elysée ahead of the other blue car with Fredrik Ekblom behind the wheel.

Norbert Michelisz came home sixth in the Castrol Honda Civic WTCC, followed by SLR team-mates Grégoire Demoustier and Tom Chilton. René Munnich completed the standings.

There were several incidents during the afternoon session, the most notable being Fredrik Ekblom’s off which damaged the bodywork of his S60. Team-mate Thed Björk also had a reliability problem: the Volvo refused to start in the pit lane and, once it got back out on track, soon came to a halt after Cimini. A large puff of smoke came out of Norbert Michelisz’s Honda Civic WTCC during the last session when the car was restarted, causing the Castrol Honda team to abort the start and call it a day.

Next up for the FIA World Touring Car Championship is the curtain raiser in France at Paul Ricard.