Champion elect José María López set the pace in first practice for the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in Thailand, pipping fellow Citroën racer Mehdi Bennani to the top time in the closing minutes of the session.
López, who had been quickest throughout much of the first half of the session, rose to the top of the times in the final minutes, toppling Bennani by 0.299 seconds with a lap of 1:40.074.
Bennani had to settle for second, as the session was halted prematurely when LADA’s Nicolas Lapierre skated off the circuit at the heavy braking zone for turn three. With only two minutes left on the clock, the session was not restarted.
The second works’ Citroën of Sébastien Loeb was third fastest, over half a second adrift of his Argentine team-mate.
Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz was fourth and the leading Honda racer, ahead of the works’ Civic of Gabriele Tarquini in fifth.
Nicky Catsburg was the leading LADA driver in sixth, his time of 1:40.986 putting him as the last driver within a second of the pace.
Honda’s Tiago Monteiro was seventh fastest, ahead of Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente in eighth. The Frenchman was the leading Chevrolet driver and is one of only two drivers to have previously raced on the circuit near Buriram.
Citroën’s Ma Qing Hua was ninth, ahead of LADA’s Rob Huff in tenth, with the Brit having edged into the top ten late in the session.
The only man who can stop López taking a second successive title this weekend, Yvan Muller, had a difficult session, with the Citroën driver outside the top ten in 11th, 1.560 seconds slower than his rival.
Local racer Tin Sritrai, who raced at the circuit in the TCR International Series one week earlier, was the slowest driver in 18th, 2.429 seconds off the pace in his 2014-spec Campos Racing Chevrolet.
Numerous drivers were warned about exceeding track limits at turns four and five, with Lapierre, Ma and Sritrai all having times disallowed for the offence.
Second practice takes place at 17:00 local times (10:00 GMT; 11:00 CET), with qualifying unusually scheduled to take place on Sunday.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 1:40.074 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 1:40.373 | 0.299 |
| 3 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 1:40.623 | 0.549 | |
| 4 | 5 | Y | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:40.636 | 0.562 |
| 5 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 9 | 1:40.886 | 0.812 | |
| 6 | 10 | Nick CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 10 | 1:40.986 | 0.912 | |
| 7 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 9 | 1:41.105 | 1.031 | |
| 8 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 7 | 1:41.223 | 1.149 |
| 9 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 1:41.513 | 1.439 | |
| 10 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 12 | 1:41.529 | 1.455 | |
| 11 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 1:41.634 | 1.560 | |
| 12 | 26 | Y | Stefano D’ASTE | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:41.942 | 1.868 |
| 13 | 4 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 1:41.967 | 1.893 |
| 14 | 47 | Nicolas LAPIERRE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 9 | 1:42.057 | 1.983 | |
| 15 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 7 | 1:42.151 | 2.077 |
| 16 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:42.354 | 2.280 |
| 17 | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 9 | 1:42.355 | 2.281 |
| 18 | 99 | Y | Tin SRITRAI |  |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 1:42.503 | 2.429 |