Rob Huff tops the first practice session at the Nürburgring

Sébastien Loeb Racing driver Rob Huff topped the time sheets in the first 40-minute practice session at the Nürburgring Nordschleife for Volkswagen, leading the way ahead of championship leader Esteban Guerrieri’s Honda and his own Volkswagen team-mate Johan Kristoffersson.

Norbert Michelisz, in the BRC Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCR, led the way through much of the first part of the session, before Huff went fastest at the half-way point in his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR.

With ten minutes to go, Michelisz then jumped ahead on the time sheets with a time of 9:01.522, before Huff improved on his next run, the first driver under nine minutes in the session with a time of 8:59.711.

In the final moments, the WRT Audi RS 3 LMS of Jean-Karl Vernay popped up to second, before he was rapidly displaced by both Guerrieri’s Honda Civic TCR and Kristoffersson’s Volkswagen.

Augusto Farfus ended up as the best-placed of the Hyundais in sixth, just ahead of team-mate Michelisz.

The Cyan Racing Lynk & Cos only set times at the end of the session, with Yann Ehrlacher the fastest for the Chinese manufacturer in 11th, 4.2 seconds off the pace, with Aurélien Panis the fastest of the Cupras in 12th in the Comtoyou Racing Cupra TCR.

The top Alfa Romeo was Ma Qing Hua in 18th – while Daniel Haglöf in the PWR Racing Cupra and the two Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 TCRs of Andy Priaulx and Thed Björk all didn’t set a completed timed lap.

The second and final 40-minute practice session follows imminently at 12:30 CEST.