Alain Menu was comfortably the fastest driver in the second free practice session for the TCR International Series in China, putting his Hyundai i30 N TCR almost half a second ahead of the SEAT of Dan Lloyd.
Menu moved quickly to the top of the timesheets early in the session, with the Swiss racer’s third lap of 1 minute 34.057 seconds holding the top spot for around 20 minutes, initially being over a second clear of the competition.
The former WTCC ace then went even quicker with just five minutes remaining, becoming the first driver to break the 1 minute 34 seconds barrier with a time of 1:33.725.
Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Dan Lloyd was second, almost half a second adrift of Menu, ahead of the first practice pace-setter Rob Huff in third.
Just behind Huff was Leopard Racing team-mate Jean-Karl Vernay in fourth, with Craft-Bamboo duo James Nash and Pepe Oriola in fifth and sixth respectively at a circuit which is quickly showing itself to be strong for the Golf and León cars.
Comtoyou Racing’s Denis Dupont was seventh fastest in his SEAT, ahead of WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli in eighth.
Once again the leading Honda was towards the lower ranks of the top ten, with M1RA’s Roberto Colciago in ninth and Boutsen-Ginion Racing’s Aurélien Panis completing the top ten.
Although the session proved the competitiveness of the new Hyundai on fresh rubber, it was a short-lived affair for the other car of Gabriele Tarquini, who stopped by the side of the circuit with the oil pressure warning light lit up on his out lap. The Italian left the car by the side of the circuit as a precaution and the issue was quickly fixed in the pits.
Qualifying takes place at 15:30 local time (08:30 BST, 09:30 CEST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 | Alain MENU |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 1:33.725 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 17 | Daniel LLOYD |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 1:34.212 | 0.487 |
| 3 | 3 | Rob HUFF | |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 16 | 1:34.263 | 0.538 |
| 4 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 16 | 1:34.370 | 0.645 |
| 5 | 54 | James NASH | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 15 | 1:34.645 | 0.920 |
| 6 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 16 | 1:34.657 | 0.932 |
| 7 | 4 | Denis DUPONT |  |
Comtoyou Racing | SEAT León TCR | 13 | 1:34.842 | 1.117 |
| 8 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 1:35.013 | 1.288 |
| 9 | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO | |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 14 | 1:35.326 | 1.601 |
| 10 | 28 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 15 | 1:35.351 | 1.626 |
| 11 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 15 | 1:35.381 | 1.656 |
| 12 | 1 | Stefano COMINI | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 1:35.634 | 1.909 |
| 13 | 16 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 16 | 1:35.776 | 2.051 |
| 14 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 15 | 1:36.196 | 2.471 |
| 15 | 99 | Rafaël GALIANA | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 16 | 1:36.290 | 2.565 |
| 16 | 81 | Zhendong ZHANG |  |
ZZZ Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 12 | 1:36.309 | 2.584 |
| 17 | 6 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 16 | 1:36.505 | 2.780 |
| 18 | 18 | Duncan ENDE |  |
Icarus Motorsports | SEAT León TCR | 13 | 1:36.989 | 3.264 |
| 19 | 71 | Tengyi JIANG | |
ZZZ Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 1:38.073 | 4.348 |
| 20 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 4 | No time | N/A |
| 21 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |