Photo: WTCR

Gilles Magnus heads Gabriele Tarquini in close first practice at Adria Raceway

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Gilles Magnus headed a close first FIA World Touring Car Cup practice session at Adria International Raceway, beating local hero Gabriele Tarquini, who announced his retirement yesterday, by 0.061 seconds.

The session was red flagged once as Hyundai driver Luca Engstler stopped on track after a spectacular tyre separation. The Engstler Motorsport driver was able to rejoin the session later.

Lynk & Co driver Yvan Muller and Yann Ehrlacher claimed positions three and four, one and three tenths from the top time respectively.

Néstor Girolami was fastest of the Honda drivers in fifth position ahead of Swedish driver Thed Björk, 0.341 and 0.455 seconds behind respectively.

Comtoyou Racing’s Nathanaël Berthon and Münnich Motorsport’s Attila Tassi rounded off the top eight.

Several drivers had brief off track excursions over the gravel traps, including Norbert Michelisz and Santiago Urrutia.

The second practice session of the weekend starts at 12:30 CET.