Honda’s Tiago Monteiro was the pace-setter in a damp second practice for the World Touring Car Championship at the Moscow Raceway in Russia, ahead of team-mate Norbert Michelisz and LADA’s Gabriele Tarquini.
On a damp but drying circuit, Monteiro improved his time late in the session to go 0.257 seconds faster than team-mate Michelisz, with the LADA of the experienced Tarquini a mere 0.013 seconds further back.
“It was a good session for us and the car was feeling good in the damp or dry,” said Monteiro. “We should be in good shape no matter if it’s dry or damp in Qualifying.
“If it’s wet it will be an unknown quantity but the car felt good, the balance was good and we’re feeling positive.”
As in first practice, the Hondas and LADAs continued to set the pace, leaving Honda’s Rob Huff in fourth, ahead of LADA racer Hugo Valente in fifth, the Frenchman being just over a second shy of the pace.
Münnich Motorsport’s James Thompson impressed with a strong run to sixth fastest to lead the independent runners in his Chevrolet, ahead of the leading Citroën of Yvan Muller in seventh.
Of note, Zengő Motorsport’s Ferenc Ficza was inside the top ten in ninth, ahead of even the defending champion José María López, who was tenth fastest and over two seconds off the pace.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 1:55.309 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 13 | 1:55.566 | 0.257 | |
| 3 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 11 | 1:55.579 | 0.270 | |
| 4 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 1:55.959 | 0.650 | |
| 5 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 13 | 1:56.403 | 1.094 | |
| 6 | 15 | T | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 1:56.470 | 1.161 |
| 7 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 1:56.928 | 1.619 | |
| 8 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 1:57.354 | 2.045 |
| 9 | 55 | T | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 13 | 1:57.444 | 2.135 |
| 10 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 1:57.478 | 2.169 | |
| 11 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 13 | 1:57.759 | 2.450 | |
| 12 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:58.082 | 2.773 |
| 13 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 9 | 1:58.086 | 2.777 | |
| 14 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:58.601 | 3.292 |
| 15 | 11 | T | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 12 | 1:58.800 | 3.491 |
| 16 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 1:59.134 | 3.825 |
| 17 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 7 | 2:00.068 | 4.759 |