Norbert Michelisz and Ma Qing Hua on top in Zhejiang free practice
Norbert Michelisz and Ma Qing Hua topped the two free practice sessions of the penultimate FIA TCR World Tour weekend at the Zhejiang Circuit in China.
Former champion Michelisz topped the first session with a lap time of 1:32.161, beating team-mate and points leader Mikel Azcona by just 0.011 seconds for a BRC Hyundai 1-2.
Thed Björk was fastest of the Geely Cyan Racing drivers, only 0.022 seconds from the time in a close top three.
Title candidate Santiago Urrutia made it two Geely Preface TCRs in the top four, but was nine tenths from the top time.
Aurélien Comte was fastest of the Cupra drivers in fifth place, over a second slower than Michelisz.
Hong Kong-racer Wai Hei Bayern Yip set the sixth fastest time ahead of Evolve Racing team-mate Lo Sze Ho.
The session was red-flagged once as Li Jia Jun went off into the gravel. Urrutia suffered a technical issue at the end and came to a halt on track.
The second free practice session was held in wet condition and was headed by home hero Ma, lapping the circuit around 14 seconds slower compared to the first session.
The Geely driver headed Azcona by three tenths of a second while Urrutia was third, four tenths from his team-mate.
Michelisz was fourth ahead of Comte, Yann Ehrlacher and Thed Björk.
The second session was red-flagged once as William Cheung Wang Chi went off.
Next up is qualifying, starting at 10:10 local time/04:10 CEST.
