Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Sergey Afanasyev set the pace in Friday testing for the TCR International Series at the Salzburgring, posting a time 0.106 seconds faster than SEAT team-mate Pepe Oriola.
The Russian driver posted his best lap time towards the end of the near-two hour session, demoting Spaniard Oriola to second.
Target Competition’s Stefano Comini in third separated the Craft-Bamboo drivers, denying Jordi Gené the chance to make it a perfect start to the weekend for the team.
Despite setting the fastest time, Afanasyev admits to a lack of familiarity with the Salzburg circuit and expects he can improve further.
“I’m very pleased with the session, it shows that little by little it’s coming together,” said Afanasyev. “The car felt good and I am more and more acquainted with it. There are a couple of places where I need to improve.
“This is a very challenging track, where I raced only once ten years ago, in Formula Renault, so it’s my first time with covered-wheel cars.”
Gianni Morbidelli was the best of the rest in fifth, with the Italian’s success ballast-laden Honda posting a time 0.616 seconds off the pace.
Liqui Moly Team Engstler duo Lorenzo Veglia and Mikhail Grachev were sixth and seventh respectively in their SEAT cars.
Zengő Motorsport’s Zsolt Szabó, Target Competition’s Andrea Belicchi and WestCoast Racing’s Kevin Gleason completed the top ten.
The Opel Astra was shared by Fernando Monje and German driver Markus Oestreich during the session. However, an engine issue stopped the car on its first laps out of the pits. Oestreich was driving the car due to his experience, having recently taken a similar Opel Astra OPC to a class victory in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 77 | Sergey AFANASYEV |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León Racer | 37 | 1:27.208 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León Racer | 34 | 1:27.314 | 0.106 |
| 3 | 25 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Target Competition | SEAT León Racer | 17 | 1:27.591 | 0.383 |
| 4 | 88 | Jordi GENÉ | |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León Racer | 36 | 1:27.772 | 0.564 |
| 5 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 22 | 1:27.824 | 0.616 |
| 6 | 7 | Lorenzo VEGLIA | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | SEAT León Racer | 38 | 1:27.976 | 0.768 |
| 7 | 8 | Mikhail GRACHEV | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | SEAT León Racer | 44 | 1:27.987 | 0.779 |
| 8 | 46 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | SEAT León Racer | 45 | 1:28.221 | 1.013 |
| 9 | 33 | Andrea BELICCHI | |
Target Competition | SEAT León Racer | 30 | 1:28.291 | 1.083 |
| 10 | 24 | Kevin GLEASON |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 32 | 1:28.297 | 1.089 |
| 11 | 17 | Michel NYKJÆR |  |
Target Competition | SEAT León Racer | 26 | 1:28.883 | 1.675 |
| 12 | 20 | Igor SKUZ |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 15 | 1:28.969 | 1.761 |
| 13 | 34 | Bas SCHOUTEN |  |
ST Motorsport / Bas Koeten Racing | SEAT León Racer | 39 | 1:29.183 | 1.975 |
| 14 | 19 | Fernando MONJE / Markus OESTREICH | |
Campos Racing | Opel Astra OPC | 20 | 1:29.480 | 2.272 |