Photo: WTCC Media

Yvan Muller leads Norbert Michelisz in final practice at Sonoma

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RML’s Yvan Muller was fastest in the second and final free practice session on Saturday ahead of the Zengõ Motorsport Honda Civic of Norbert Michelisz, with Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente third fastest for SEAT.

Michelisz set a time of 1:46.299 on his first run and held the top spot for much of the session, until Muller’s improvement came just after the 20 minute mark which put the Frenchman on top with a time of 1:46.268, though not faster than Pepe Oriola’s time from FP1 with the heat rising at the California circuit.

Hugo Valente set a last minute flyer to go third fastest for Campos Racing, whilst team-mate Fernando Monje finished ninth, despite a slide at the Carousel which brought out the red flag five minutes into the session.

Turn 2 caught out a number of drivers, with Proteam’s Mehdi Bennani and Nika Racing’s Michel Nykjaer both having spins, whilst PB Racing’s Stefano D’Aste clambered through the dirt after sliding deep and cut the corner just over half way through the session.

Gabriele Tarquini finished fourth for Honda, with Tom Chilton fifth fastest in the second of RML’s Chevrolet Cruzes.

Fredy Barth was the fastest of the BMW drivers in seventh for Wiechers-Sport.

Next up is qualifying at 14:00 PST.