Photo: TCR Series

Alain Menu tops the final practice session at Zhejiang

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Alain Menu claimed top honours on his competitive return to racing in China, with the Swiss driver fastest of all in the final practice session at Zhejiang in the BRC Hyundai i30 N TCR, leading

Menu’s led the session right from the start, which was a mixed session for the new Hyundais, with Gabriele Tarquini’s car coming to a halt before completing a lap.

Menu’s time of 1:34.057 kept him on top throughout most of the session, with the 54-year-old Swiss then improving that time to 1:33.725, the first driver under the 1:34 barrier with just under five minutes to go in the 30-minute practice session.

Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Dan Lloyd put his SEAT León in second in the final minutes of the session, moving ahead of the Team WRT Volkswagen of Rob Huff, with Huff’s team-mate Jean-Karl Vernay fourth fastest.

James Nash finished the session sixth in his SEAT ahead of Craft-Bamboo team-mate Pepe Oriola, while Denis Dupont, who missed most of the first session after a puncture at the start, finished seventh in his Comtoyou Racing SEAT, with WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli eighth, asserting the performance of the Volkswagens and SEATs at the unique Chinese circuit.

Roberto Colciago was again the fastest of the Hondas in ninth, while his M1RA team-mate and championship leader Attila Tassi was down in 14th.

Aurélien Panis completed the top ten in the Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda, while two-time champion Stefano Comini was 12th in his Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 LMS, the best-placed of the Audis.

Qualifying follows at 15:30 CST (09:30 CET), where the Hyundais will be unable to progress to Q2 as they’re not able to score points.