Photo: FIA WTCC

Ma Qing Hua leads FP1 in Shanghai

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Local hero Ma Qing Hua set the fastest time in the first free practice session that took place in Shanghai International, host of the tenth round of the 2015 FIA World Touring Car Championship season. The Chinese driver was one of the busiest on track to beat Tiago Monteiro in the first assault of the day.

The session took place under sunny and dry conditions, and was largely trouble-free on the track.

Ma took his Citroeën C-Elysée WTCC to the top of the timing sheets to clock a best lap of 1:51.706, still slower than yesterday’s best lap as the session was taking place in the early morning.

Tiago Monteiro was second in his Honda Civic WTCC, 0.131 seconds off the pace, and just ahead of reigning champion José María López, 0.336 seconds behind team-mate Ma. Gabriele Tarquini was fourth, 0.484 seconds off the pace.

Fifth and top Yokohama driver was Mehdi Bennani in the C-Elysée from Sebastien Loeb Racing, 0.633 seconds behind MA. Tom Chilton was the best Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 in sixth place for ROAL Motorsport, followed by Norbert Michelisz, the leader in the Yokohama Trophy Drivers’ table.

Rob Huff was the top Lada Vesta WTCC in eighth position, albeit 0.923 seconds off the pace, and followed by Citroën’s Yvan Muller. Nicky Catsburg closed the top ten for Lada.

Second free practice kicks off at 11:10 CST, 5:10 CEST (GMT + 2).