Néstor Girolami fastest in wet first practice session at Ningbo

Polestar Cyan Racing’s Néstor Girolami was fastest of all in a wet first free practice session at the Ningbo International Speedpark, leading his Volvo team-mate Thed Björk in the 45-minute session.

The Argentinian took over from Yann Ehrlacher, driving the RC Motorsport Yann Ehrlacher, with just 15 minutes to go after Münnich Motorsport’s Rob Huff had led the way during the first half of the session.

The Argentinian improved with each lap as light rain continued to fall at the Chinese circuit, only briefly falling behind his team-mate Nicky Catburg.

Thed Björk’s final lap managed to move him to second, dropping Huff’s Citroën to third, with Catsburg’s final lap putting him fourth fastest, with the Swedish manufacturer looking strong in the slippery conditions.

The fastest Honda driver was Gabriele Tarquini on his WTCC return, with the 55-year-old fifth fastest, just over half a second behind, with Frenchman Ehrlacher sixth quickest in the RC Lada Vesta.

Norbert Michelisz was seventh in the Honda, ahead of Esteban Guerrieri’s Campos Racing Chevrolet, with Kevin Gleason’s Lada and the Honda of Ryo Michigami completing the top ten.

While Huff was third fastest in his Citroën, the three Sébastien Loeb Racing-run Citroëns struggled, with Tom Chilton the best-placed of the team’s drivers in 11th, 3.4 seconds down, just ahead of team-mate Medhi Bennani, with John Filippi 14th.

The two Zengõ Motorsport Honda Civics of Daniel Nagy and Zsolt Szabo opted to skip the session, while newcomer Filipe de Souza in the third RC Motorsport Lada Vesta was almost eight seconds off the pace down in 15th.

The second practice session is scheduled for 12:45 CST (06:45 CET).