Mat’o Homola tops first free practice in Oschersleben
Mat’o Homola led a SEAT 1-2-3 by dominating the first free practice session at Oschersleben, Germany. The Slovakian was more than half a second quicker than Craft-Bamboo Lukoil’s Pepe Oriola and James Nash.
Petr Fulìn was a very good fourth for Mulsanne Racing, but the Czech driver had to stop his Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR out of Turn 3 due to a technical issue, therefore setting his time early in the session. Championship leader Stefano Comini came fifth for Leopard Racing, ahead of Sergey Afanasyev in the Craft-Bamboo Lukoil SEAT León.
Jean-Karl Vernay finished seventh despite carrying maximum ballast in the Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, while Attila Tassi also had a positive and trouble-free session, finishing eighth in the B3 Racing León. Davit Kajaia was ninth for Liqui Moly Team Engstler in his Volkswagen Golf as Antti Buri completed the top ten.
The WestCoast Racing Hondas seemed to struggle, with Mikhail Grachev finishing eleventh ahead of Gianni Morbidelli, who also spun at Turn 3.
Dusan Borkovic also had a difficult session as he spun midway through it, and spent quite a bit of time in the pits subsequently. Several drivers received a warning for track limits infringements, including Oriola, Kajaia, Tassi and Borkovic.
The second free practice session is scheduled for 11:35 local time.
