Rydell tops first practice at Pau

Rickard Rydell topped the first practice session at the French street race Pau. Rain made the track very wet which made a lot of drivers visit the guard rail. Second fastest was the very light BMW 320si of Augusto Farfus Jr, only 0.006 seconds behind the Swede. Farfus was right in the middle of a SEAT-sandwich with Gabriele Tarquini third fastest.

James Thompson showed strong form in his Honda Accord. The team received a weight reduction of 20 kilos before the race which seemed to have helped.

Behind Thompson was touring car legend Nicola Larini in fifth with reigning champion Andy Priaulx in sixth.

The wet track caused a lot of incidents in the second corner, called Virage de la Gare. Laurent Cazenave, Tarquini, Rydell, Alain Menu and Oscar Nogués all spun there.

Robert Huff made the worst crash of them all in turn eight, called Foch. The Brit damaged the left side of his car and forced the session to a halt as he was stranded in the middle of the track.