Johan Kristoffersson heads Rob Huff in twice interrupted second Suzuka practice
Johan Kristoffersson and Rob Huff headed an SLR Volkswagen 1-2 in the second free practice session of the World Touring Car Cup weekend at Suzuka. The red flags were brought out twice during the session due to incidents of Ma Qing Hua and Frederick Vervisch.
Alfa Romeo driver Hua caused the first red flag with eleven minutes left of the session, dropping his left rear wheel after exiting the pits and coming to a half after Turn 1.
The second red flag came with eight minutes left of the session as Vervisch beached his Audi RS 3 LMS in the gravel of Turn 1, just barely missing Kristoffersson who was re-entering the circuit after a brief off track excursion.
Lynk & Co Cyan Racing driver Thed Björk was the first driver to break the one minute barrier early in the session. The Swede was however demoted to third as the session progressed, finishing 0.164 seconds behind Kristoffersson and 0.030 seconds behind Huff.
Vervisch managed to set the fourth fastest time before going off, with Münnich Motorsport Honda driver Esteban Guerrieri fifth fastest, 0.232 from P1.
Manufacturer colleague Tiago Monteiro claimed the sixth fastest time ahead of Audi Sport Team Comtoyou driver Niels Langeveld in seventh.
Japanese wild card driver Ritomo Miyata impressed by setting the eighth fastest time in his Audi RS 3 LMS for Team Hitotsuyama, 0.363 seconds from the fastest time.
The session was closely matched despite the very wet conditions, with the top 26 drivers within one second and positions four to eleven covered by just 0.144 seconds.
Championship leader Norbert Michelisz continued to struggle, posting the 18th fastest time, half a second from Kristoffersson’s time.
Next up is the first qualifying session, starting at 13:00 local time, 06:00 CEST.
