Photo: WTCR

Esteban Guerrieri remains out front in second practice

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Esteban Guerrieri remained out front at a wet Hungaroring after topping second practice for the latest rounds of the FIA World Touring Car Cup season.

The tricky conditions were again evident from the outset as Thed Björk suffered a lurid slide on his first timed lap at turn eight and the Hyundai of Gabriele Tarquini took a trip off track at turn five.

Having been quickest in FP1, Guerrieri was the early pacesetter again in the second session as he put in a first flying lap of 2:06.581 to slot into first spot ahead of Mikel Azcona’s Cupra León Competición TCR and Nathanel Berthon’s Audi – the trio being the only drivers to break the 2:07s mark early on.

As the session passed half way and drivers headed out for their second run, so the improvements started to come, with Gabriele Tarquini and Jean-Karl Vernay both vaulting up the order – only to then be stripped of their respective times for exceeding track limits.

Gilles Magnus however was one driver able to improve and keep the time as he moved up into fifth in the Audi behind Nestor Girolami.

Heading into the final ten minutes there was a change at the top, with Azcona going half a second quicker than Guerrieri into P1 – albeit with a time still half a second off the quickest lap from the opening session.

Luca Engstler was also improving to put the lead Hyundai into third spot – meaning four different manufacturers were holding the top four places, with Björk the quickest Lynk & Co in seventh.

On the final runs, Girolami moved into second place but team-mate Guerrieri was running behind and jumped into the lead with the first 2:05 lap of the session; going fourth tenths quicker than Azcona.

Guerrieri’s time would remain unbeaten through the closing minutes as the Münnich Motorsport man completed a sweep of the two practice sessions ahead of the impressive Azcona and Girolami, with Attila Tassi moving into fourth late on with a solid lap that included going fastest of all in the first sector.

Gilles Magnus was quickest Audi driver in fifth ahead of Engstler’s Hyundai, with Yvan Muller in ninth ending up as the quickest Lynk & Co driver.

Points leader Yann Ehrlacher was twelfth quickest and again ahead of closest rival Tom Coronel, who was down in 14th in his Comtoyou Audi.

Qualifying will take place at 15:30 CEST.