Tony D’Alberto heads Santiago Urrutia in red-flagged first Bathurst practice
Reigning TCR Australia champion Tony D’Alberto headed Santiago Urrutia in the first free practice session of the joint TCR World Tour weekend at Mount Panorama Circuit.
The session was red-flagged early on as Peugeot driver Jordan Cox came to a halt on track with a technical issue.
Also hit with a technical issue was TCR World Tour title contender Yann Ehrlacher who was forced to sit out the session due to an engine issue.
Honda driver D’Alberto lapped the circuit in 2:15.9079, a time which is 3,7 seconds slower than last year’s pole time of Jay Hanson.
Cyan Racing’s Urrutia was seven tenths behind in second place while TCR Australia returnee Michael Clemente (Cupra) was third fastest, just over a second from the top time.
HMO Hyundai team-mates Josh Buchan and Bailey Sweeny occupied positions four and five ahead of Sydney winner Will Brown (Audi) in sixth.
Néstor Girolami (Honda) was second fastest of the TCR World Tour drivers in seventh position, 1,6 seconds from the top time, with Ma Qing Hua (Lynk & Co) right behind in eighth.
The GRM Peugeot duo of Aaron Cameron and Ben Bargwanna rounded off the top ten ahead of Hyundai’s Mikel Azcona in eleventh.
The second free practice session starts at 16:00 local time/04:00 CET.
