A late lap put LADA’s Gabriele Tarquini on top of the times in first practice for the World Touring Car Championship at the Hungaroring, ahead of Volvo’s Fredrik Ekblom and Honda’s Norbert Michelisz.
Tarquini ended the session 0.108 seconds ahead of Cyan Racing’s Ekblom, having improved late in the session on new rubber.
Michelisz, who had topped Friday’s test session, ended up third at his home circuit, ahead of Honda team-mate and championship leader Tiago Monteiro in fourth.
LADA’s Nicky Catsburg was fifth fastest, just over half a second off his team-mate, with the Dutchman admitting to being surprised about how much his car had improved since testing, when he was ninth and over a second off the pace.
Yvan Muller was the leading Citroën driver in sixth, ahead of Honda’s Rob Huff and ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel in seventh and eighth respectively.
Reigning champion José María López was ninth quickest, whilst Volvo’s Thed Björk completed the top ten.
Numerous drivers were warned for exceeding track limits during the session, including Tarquini, Hugo Valente (13th), Catsburg and Monteiro.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 12 | 1:47.929 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 13 | 1:48.037 | 0.108 | |
| 3 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 10 | 1:48.182 | 0.253 | |
| 4 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:48.238 | 0.309 | |
| 5 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 13 | 1:48.436 | 0.507 | |
| 6 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 1:48.577 | 0.648 | |
| 7 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:48.694 | 0.765 | |
| 8 | 9 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:48.734 | 0.805 |
| 9 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 15 | 1:48.775 | 0.846 | |
| 10 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 11 | 1:48.833 | 0.904 | |
| 11 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 1:48.837 | 0.908 |
| 12 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 1:48.940 | 1.011 |
| 13 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 12 | 1:49.228 | 1.299 | |
| 14 | 77 | Y | René MÜNNICH |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 1:49.584 | 1.655 |
| 15 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 1:50.324 | 2.395 |
| 16 | 55 | Y | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:50.787 | 2.858 |
| 17 | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 4 | – | N/A |