Néstor Girolami leads the first practice session at Vila Real
Münnich Motorsport driver Néstor Girolami was fastest of all in the first practice session at the Vila Real street circuit, setting a time of 2:01.971 in the 45-minute session in his Honda Civic TCR in a session which was twice stopped by red flags.
The Argentinian was one-tenth of a second clear of the Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen of Mehdi Bennani, with championship leader Esteban Guerrieri third fastest in the second of the Münnich Hondas.
The session was twice stopped under red flags when a tyre stack was shifted out of position.
In the final order, Yvan Muller was fourth fastest in his Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 TCR, with Augusto Farfus fifth, the best of the BRC Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCRs.
Farfus’s team-mate Norbert Michelisz was sixth, ahead of Rob Huff’s Volkswagen.
The Hyundais of Gabriele Tarquini and Nicky Catsburg were eighth and tenth, sandwiching the Cupra TCR of Aurélien Panis.
The fastest of the Alfa Romeos was Ma Qing Hua in 14th, with the Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo having been given a 20kg weight break in Balance of Performance this weekend.
The manufacturer which struggled the most was Audi, with Jean-Karl Vernay the best-placed back in 18th, 1.7 seconds off the pace, while the other three drivers were placed 23rd through 25th.
The second practice session is scheduled for Saturday morning at 09:00 WEST (BST).
