Photo: ETCC Media

Petr Fulín dominates damp first test session in France

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Krenek Motorsport’s Petr Fulín led the way in the first test session of the 2016 European Touring Car Cup at the Circuit Paul Ricard, with the SEAT driver setting a time 1.6 seconds clear of Kris Richard’s Rikli Honda Civic in the 45-minute session.

The session was wet throughout, but with the rain easing off as the session continued, leading to some last minute improvements.

Richard, making his ETCC debut, and with Rikli Motorsport’s brand new Honda Civic, was former champion Fulín’s closest challenger, with Lema Racing’s Igor Stefanovski in third place.

Peter Rikli was fourth quickest in the second of the Hondas, while Fulín’s team-mate Christjohannes Schreiber was fifth fastest in the SEAT León.

René Münnich, who is on double duty this weekend, competing in both WTCC and ETCC, set the sixth quickest time in his Honda Civic, just ahead of ETCC regular Andreas Pfister’s SEAT.

In the Super 1600 Trophy class, reigning champion Nicklas Mackschin was fastest, setting the 12th overall best time ahead of Ulrike Krafft and Andrii Levtusheko, all in Ford Fiestas.

The second test session for the ETCC gets underway at 14:45 CET.