Jordi Gené lead Craft-Bamboo Racing team-mate Pepe Oriola in the times in Friday testing for the TCR International Series in Thailand, with the West Coast Racing trio of Hondas behind.
Gené and Oriola swapped the top time throughout the extended two-hour session, before Gené eventually sealed the fastest time with a lap of 1:44.218 to go 0.165 seconds faster than his compatriot.
Gianni Morbidelli was the lead Honda driver in third, over half a second off the pace. His sometime team-mate René Münnich was fourth, ahead of regular team-mate Kevin Gleason in fifth.
The third Craft-Babmoo Lukoil car of Sergey Afansyev was sixth, with the Russian being the last driver to be within a second of the leading pace.
Loris Hezemans was the top Target Competition driver in seventh, contesting only his second meeting in the series, ahead of championship leader Stefano Comini in eighth.
Liqui Moly Team Engstler cars completed the top ten, with Mikhail Grachev putting his Volkswagen in ninth ahead of Lorenzo Veglia’s SEAT in tenth. Tomas Engström just missed the top ten in the second Volkswagen, ending up 11th fastest.
Alain Menu enjoyed a solid start to his début weekend in TCR, putting the Top Run Motorsport Subaru STi car in 12th fastest, 1.488 seconds off the pace.
World Touring Car Championship regular Hugo Valente was 13th in the Campos Racing Opel, less than a tenth slower than Menu.
Newcomer Munkong Sathienthirakul was the leading TCR Asia Series driver in 14th position, with the Thai driver using his local knowledge of the circuit to good effect in his Craft-Bamboo Racing SEAT.
Session results
POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
1 | 88 | Jordi GENÉ | Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León Racer | 36 | 1:44.218 | 0.000 | |
2 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA | Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León Racer | 38 | 1:44.383 | 0.165 | |
3 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 25 | 1:44.772 | 0.554 | |
4 | 23 | René MÜNNICH | West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 33 | 1:44.940 | 0.722 | |
5 | 24 | Kevin GLEASON | West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 39 | 1:45.084 | 0.866 | |
6 | 77 | Sergey AFANASYEV | Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León Racer | 34 | 1:45.113 | 0.895 | |
7 | 15 | Loris HEZEMANS | Target Competition | SEAT León Racer | 40 | 1:45.244 | 1.026 | |
8 | 25 | Stefano COMINI | Target Competition | SEAT León Racer | 35 | 1:45.474 | 1.256 | |
9 | 8 | Mikhail GRACHEV | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf TCR | 35 | 1:45.493 | 1.275 | |
10 | 7 | Lorenzo VEGLIA | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | SEAT León Racer | 35 | 1:45.523 | 1.305 | |
11 | 4 | Tomas ENGSTRÖM | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf TCR | 29 | 1:45.568 | 1.350 | |
12 | 52 | Alain MENU | Top Run Motorsport | Subaru STi TCR | 23 | 1:45.706 | 1.488 | |
13 | 45 | Hugo VALENTE | Campos Racing | Opel Astra OPC | 27 | 1:45.754 | 1.536 | |
14 | 80 | Munkong SATHIENTHIRAKUL | Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León Racer | 34 | 1:45.770 | 1.552 | |
15 | 27 | Robb HOLLAND | FRD Ford HK Racing Team | Ford Focus ST | 28 | 1:46.499 | 2.281 | |
16 | 68 | Michael CHOI | Prince Racing Hong Kong | Honda Civic TCR | 35 | 1:46.712 | 2.494 | |
17 | 35 | Rafaël GALIANA | Target Competition | SEAT León Racer | 32 | 1:46.835 | 2.617 | |
18 | 31 | Tin SRITRAI | Asia Racing Team | SEAT León Racer | 28 | 1:46.878 | 2.660 | |
19 | 38 | Kenneth LAU | Prince Racing Hong Kong | Honda Civic TCR | 34 | 1:47.286 | 3.068 | |
20 | 66 | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA | Roadstar Racing Team | SEAT León Racer | 31 | 1:47.291 | 3.073 | |
21 | 67 | Johnson HUANG | Roadstar Racing Team | SEAT León Racer | 34 | 1:48.776 | 4.558 | |
22 | 56 | Samson CHAN | Roadstar Racing Team | SEAT León Racer | 34 | 1:48.786 | 4.568 | |
23 | 65 | Douglas KHOO | Niza Racing | SEAT León Racer | 30 | 1:55.663 | 11.445 | |
24 | 69 | Kevin PU | Asia Racing Team | SEAT León Racer | – | No time | N/A |