Rob Huff denied the Hyundai duo of Gabriele Tarquini and Alain Menu a dream result in first practice for the TCR International Series at Zhejiang in China, with the Leopard Racing driver going fastest in the final seconds of the session.
The early pace had been set by the Hyundai pairing of Menu and Tarquini, with the former going quickest after around ten minutes when he became the first driver to break below the 1 minute 35 seconds barrier on Saturday.
Tarquini then went quicker than his BRC Racing team-mate to put in a lap of 1:34.449, with the order then remaining static until the final seconds when Huff edged out the Italian by just over a tenth of a second.
It should be noted that both of the Hyundai i30 cars are on fresh rubber as new entries to the series this weekend, giving them an early advantage in the running.
Menu held on to third at the end, whilst Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Pepe Oriola was the leading SEAT racer in fourth, six tenths off the pace after an improvement on his final run.
WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli was fifth, ahead of the second Leopard Racing car of title contender Jean-Karl Vernay in sixth.
Both GE-Force Alfa Romeos enjoyed a strong start to proceedings, with Davit Kajaia putting in the seventh best time, immediately ahead of team-mate Dušan Borković in eighth, the duo being around one second off the pace.
M1RA’s Roberto Colciago was ninth and the leading Honda, whilst Craft-Bamboo’s James Nash completed the top ten.
The Comtoyou Racing Audis struggled for pace in the session, with Frédéric Vervisch heading team-mate Stefano Comini in 15th and 16th respectively.
The second WestCoast Racing Volkswagen of Rafaël Galiana was the slowest to post a time, with the Frenchman also being turned around by Vervisch in the session at Turn 6.
Problems for newcomer Denis Dupont saw the Belgian fail to post a time – he had earlier had a spin at Turn 3 and then picked up a right-rear puncture that saw him limp slowly back to the pits with the tyre shredded.
Second practice takes place at 12:00 local time (05:00 BST, 06:00 CEST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 3 | Rob HUFF |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 1:34.344 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:34.449 | 0.105 |
| 3 | 33 | Alain MENU |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 1:34.554 | 0.210 |
| 4 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 16 | 1:34.984 | 0.640 |
| 5 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 1:35.129 | 0.785 |
| 6 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 1:35.144 | 0.800 |
| 7 | 16 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 17 | 1:35.276 | 0.932 |
| 8 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 16 | 1:35.410 | 1.066 |
| 9 | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO | |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 14 | 1:35.539 | 1.195 |
| 10 | 54 | James NASH | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 1:35.618 | 1.274 |
| 11 | 17 | Daniel LLOYD | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 12 | 1:35.858 | 1.514 |
| 12 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 12 | 1:35.880 | 1.536 |
| 13 | 28 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 15 | 1:35.980 | 1.636 |
| 14 | 81 | Zhendong ZHANG |  |
ZZZ Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 1:36.001 | 1.657 |
| 15 | 6 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 12 | 1:36.003 | 1.659 |
| 16 | 1 | Stefano COMINI | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 13 | 1:36.082 | 1.738 |
| 17 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 15 | 1:36.090 | 1.746 |
| 18 | 71 | Tengyi JIANG | |
ZZZ Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 1:37.408 | 3.064 |
| 19 | 99 | Rafaël GALIANA | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 1:37.834 | 3.490 |
| 20 | 4 | Denis DUPONT | |
Comtoyou Racing | SEAT León TCR | 3 | No time | N/A |
| 21 | 18 | Duncan ENDE |  |
Icarus Motorsports | SEAT León TCR | 4 | No time | N/A |