Liqui Moly Team Engstler newcomer Nicki Thiim topped Friday’s unofficial test day for the TCR International Series in Portimão, putting his Audi TT ahead of SEAT drivers Jordi Gené and Pepe Oriola.
Dane Thiim, who is making his TCR début for Engster Motorsport this weekend, posted his fastest lap in the second of four sessions, going less than a tenth faster than Gené, who posted his lap in the third session.
Oriola was third, ahead of another newcomer for Engstler Motorsport this weekend, with South African Kelvin Van der Linde racing the second of the German outfit’s Audi cars.
The top Honda was Gianni Morbidelli in seventh, just under a second off the pace of the fast Dane.
Mikhail Grachev has moved to racing a SEAT León for Engstler Motorsport this weekend, and the Russian shared the car with regular driver Lorenzo Veglia.
José Monroy was the best of the local entries, with the Portuguese driver in 12th position, whilst his Veloso Motorsport team-mate Francisco Mora was 15th fastest.
Combined session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 3 | Nicki THIIM |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Audi Sport TT Cup | 39 | 1:54.626 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 88 | Jordi GENÉ |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León Racer | 33 | 1:54.687 | 0.061 |
| 3 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA | |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León Racer | 34 | 1:54.767 | 0.141 |
| 4 | 9 | Kelvin VAN DER LINDE |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Audi Sport TT Cup | 36 | 1:54.804 | 0.178 |
| 5 | 77 | Sergey AFANASYEV |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León Racer | 32 | 1:55.269 | 0.643 |
| 6 | 25 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Target Competition | SEAT León Racer | 31 | 1:55.520 | 0.894 |
| 7 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 25 | 1:55.619 | 0.993 |
| 8 | 17 | Michel NYKJÆR | |
Target Competition | SEAT León Racer | 18 | 1:55.845 | 1.219 |
| 9 | 7 | Lorenzo VEGLIA | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | SEAT León Racer | 25 | 1:56.097 | 1.471 |
| 10 | 24 | Kevin GLEASON |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 34 | 1:56.172 | 1.546 |
| 11 | 8 | Mikhail GRACHEV | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | SEAT León Racer | 38 | 1:56.216 | 1.590 |
| 12 | 18 | José MONROY |  |
Veloso Motorsport | SEAT León Racer | 25 | 1:56.370 | 1.744 |
| 13 | 33 | Andrea BELICCHI | |
Target Competition | SEAT León Racer | 32 | 1:56.422 | 1.796 |
| 14 | 19 | Oscar NOGUÉS | |
Campos Racing | Opel Astra OPC | 19 | 1:56.656 | 2.030 |
| 15 | 50 | Francisco MORA | |
Veloso Motorsport | SEAT León Racer | 20 | 1:57.204 | 2.578 |
| 16 | 20 | Igor SKUZ |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 33 | 1:58.082 | 3.456 |