Andy Priaulx tops warm up

On a grey morning, reigning world champion Andy Priaulx set the pace (2:13.280) in the warm up session. Despite 60 kg of ballast the man from Guernsey is the only driver with heavy extra weight to consistently appear at the top of the timesheet.

Rickard Rydell and Jordi Gené set the 2nd and 3rd best times respectively in conditions that differ from yesterday. Rain fell overnight, the temperature is lower and the sky is overcast with the appearance of more rain likely.

A time of 2:14.003 was the best from Alain Menu and Chevrolet which was the fastest 7th overall. Augusto Farfus continues to head the N.technology team with the 17th best time.

After an engine change, Maurizio Ceresoli of GR Asia re-joined the field. The same was true for Maurer Motorsport driver Vincent Radermecker. However, the Belgian stopped at the exit of the pits after 4 laps.

The cause was due to the late change of the engine but is thought to be nothing serious.

At the end of the session James Thompson’s car was emitting smoke as he pulled into the pits. This was due to power steering failure which caused the fluid of the system catch fire.