Polestar Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk lead a Volvo 1-2 in second practice for the World Touring Car Championship at Monza, with team-mate Néstor Girolami second quickest.
Björk had been the first driver to post a fast lap early on in the 45-minute session, initially topping the times with a 1:53.802 effort. The Swede was then usurped by team-mate Girolami at the half-way stage of the session, before he returned to the top with ten minutes to go with his time of 1:53.160.
Whilst pushing late on in the session, Björk went wide at Variante Ascari and could not improve on his final run, meaning that the practice pace remains over half a second slower than the best time set by Münnich Motorsport’s Rob Huff in pre-season testing.
Girolami ended the session in second, ahead of the leading Honda of Norbert Michelisz in third., the Hungarian ending up over half a second slower than the Volvo.
Tiago Monteiro was just behind his team-mate in fourth, whilst Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton ended up fifth fastest, and the leading Citroën driver. Chilton had earlier had to have the flat-floor replaced on his C-Elysée in first practice.
The last driver within a second of the pace was sixth-placed Nicky Catsburg, who couldn’t replicate the pace of his Cyan Racing team-mates.
Huff ended up seventh fastest, ahead of another impressive effort by independent LADA driver Yann Ehrlacher in eighth, the Frenchman completing more laps than any other driver in the session.
Honda’s Ryo Michigami was ninth, although the Japanese driver was pushed back into the pits late on in the session.
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel completed the top ten in the leading independent Chevrolet.
Several drivers pushed the limits in the session, with Mehdi Bennani doing so in the most spectacular fashion. The Sébastien Loeb Racing driver lost the back end of his car heading into the Seconda Variante half-way through the session, spinning out of the way of team-mate Chilton. He ended up in 13th place.
RC Motorsport’s Kevin Gleason also picked up a puncture at the end of the session, bringing a premature end to his practice. The LADA was the only car to pick up a puncture in second practice.
Qualifying takes place at 13:10 BST (14:10 CEST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 17 | 1:53.160 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 61 | Néstor GIROLAMI |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 12 | 1:53.411 | 0.251 |
| 3 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 1:53.663 | 0.503 |
| 4 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 1:53.711 | 0.551 |
| 5 | 3 | Tom CHILTON |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 1:53.859 | 0.699 |
| 6 | 63 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 13 | 1:54.122 | 0.962 |
| 7 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 15 | 1:54.216 | 1.056 |
| 8 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER |  |
RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 19 | 1:54.291 | 1.131 |
| 9 | 34 | Ryo MICHIGAMI |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 1:54.384 | 1.224 |
| 10 | 9 | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 1:54.549 | 1.389 |
| 11 | 8 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 16 | 1:54.634 | 1.474 |
| 12 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 1:54.744 | 1.584 |
| 13 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 15 | 1:54.897 | 1.737 |
| 14 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 1:55.441 | 2.281 |
| 15 | 99 | Dániel NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 1:56.592 | 3.432 |
| 16 | 24 | Kevin GLEASON |  |
RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 16 | 1:56.792 | 3.632 |