World Touring Car Champion José María López pipped Norbert Michelisz to the top time in testing for the WTCC in Qatar, with the Citroën racer edging the Zengő Motorsport driver late in the session.
On a low grip circuit, thanks to unusual rainfall on Wednesday, times continued to decrease throughout the half-hour session, with López ultimately going fastest in the dying seconds.
Micheliz also put in a fast lap late on to go second and end the session as the leading Honda driver, ahead of Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani in third, who had briefly been quickest himself with two minutes still to go.
Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente was fourth fastest and the leading Chevrolet runners, just over a second off the pace.
Sébastien Loeb, seeking to hold on to the runner-up spot in the championship, was fifth fastest, heading Citroën team-mates Ma Qing Hua in sixth, who had been the early pace setter, and Yvan Muller in seventh.
Nicolas Lapierre was the leading LADA driver in eighth, with Chevrolet drivers John Filippi and Tom Chilton completing the top ten for Campos Racing and ROAL Motorsport respectively.
Honda’s Tiago Monteiro caused a brief red flag stoppage ten minutes in to the session when he stopped on track with mechanical problems. The Portuguese driver failed to post a time in the session.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 2:02.316 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 5 | Y | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 2:02.602 | 0.286 |
| 3 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 2:02.805 | 0.489 |
| 4 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE |  |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 2:03.361 | 1.045 |
| 5 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 2:03.405 | 1.089 | |
| 6 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 2:03.460 | 1.144 | |
| 7 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 2:03.600 | 1.284 | |
| 8 | 47 | Nicolas LAPIERRE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 10 | 2:03.788 | 1.472 | |
| 9 | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 2:04.052 | 1.736 |
| 10 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON |  |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 2:04.583 | 2.267 |
| 11 | 4 | Y | Tom CORONEL |  |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 2:04.596 | 2.280 |
| 12 | 10 | Nick CATSBURG | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 12 | 2:04.886 | 2.570 | |
| 13 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 2:05.184 | 2.868 |
| 14 | 26 | Y | Stefano D’ASTE |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 2:05.269 | 2.953 |
| 15 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 7 | 2:05.526 | 3.210 | |
| 16 | 95 | Y | Nasser Saleh AL-ATTIYAH |  |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 10 | 2:06.272 | 3.956 |
| 17 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 4:47.576 | 45.260 | |
| 18 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 1 | No time | N/A | |
| 0:00.000 | 0.000 |