Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani was fastest in the afternoon session of the official World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) test in Vallelunga, ahead of Volvo’s Thed Björk.
Bennani, who had earlier also took part in the morning session, finished the day with a time of 1:37.000 which ended up being the best lap time of the day.
Björk’s pace in second was an encouraging sign for Volvo, with the Swede just 0.352 seconds slower than Bennani’s Citroën.
Tom Chilton, Bennani’s new team-mate, was third fastest as he improved on his morning time, ahead of the leading Honda of Norbert Michelisz in fourth.
Yvan Muller was the sole works Citroën driver taking part in the afternoon session, with the Frenchman ending up in fifth, 0.673 seconds off the pace. The morning’s pace-setter, José María López, did not take to the track for the five-hour afternoon session.
Fredrik Ekblom put the second Volvo in sixth, just over a second off the pace, whilst Grégoire Demoustier was seventh in the third of the SLR Citroëns.
The session was red-flagged early on when Campos Racing’s John Filippi suffered a big crash after just five laps, causing extensive damage to the rear of his Chevrolet.
The only other Chevrolet in the session was that of René Münnich, who ended up ninth and last.
LADA did not participate in the official test session.