Leopard Lukoil stand-in driver Jaap van Lagen set the pace in first practice for the TCR Europe series at Zandvoort in The Netherlands, with the Audi driver lapping three tenths faster than the CUPRA of Mikel Azcona.
Whilst PCR Sport’s Azcona was the early pace-setter, Van Lagen hit the top of the times after just over ten minutes in the Audi RS3 LMS, which he is driving as a stand-in for Jean-Karl Vernay this weekend. As a new driver, van Lagen took to the track with new tyres, giving him a clear advantage over his rivals.
Cedric Piro ended the half hour session in third, having hauled his Honda up the timesheets in the last ten minutes to end up as the leading Honda and also the best of the TCR Benelux eligible drivers.
Target Competition’s Kris Richard was fourth fastest in the best of the Hyundais, just over a second off the pace, with the South Korean marque getting four cars inside the top ten despite the latest Balance of Performance [BoP] measures.
Comtoyou Racing’s Maxime Potty was fifth fastest and the leading Volkswagen driver, ahead of M1RA’s Dániel Nagy in sixth, who improved his time in the closing minutes.
The second Target Hyundai of Reece Barr was seventh, with eighth-place Peugeot driver Julien Briché splitting the Target cars of Barr and team-mate Dušan Borković in ninth.
KCMG’s Josh Files completed the top ten, the Brit lapping the Dutch circuit 1.687 seconds off the pace in his Honda.
Of note, Igor Stefanovski was out on circuit in his repaired Hyundai i30 N, after his team successfully completed repairs to the car following his big crash in the second TCR Europe race at Circuit Paul Ricard just under two weeks’ ago.
Track limits at Turn 13 proved to be an issue for Stian Paulsen, who ended the session just outside the top ten in 11th.
Second practice for TCR Europe takes place at 13:20 CEST (12:20 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 46 | Jaap VAN LAGEN |  |
Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 1:45.226 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 25 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PCR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 13 | 1:45.587 | 0.361 |
| 3 | 13 | Cedric PIRO |  |
Autodis Racing by Piro Sports | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 12 | 1:45.956 | 0.730 |
| 4 | 94 | Kris RICHARD |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 1:46.268 | 1.042 |
| 5 | 88 | Maxime POTTY |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 1:46.413 | 1.187 |
| 6 | 999 | Dániel NAGY |  |
M1RA | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 1:46.511 | 1.285 |
| 7 | 8 | Reece BARR |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 1:46.558 | 1.332 |
| 8 | 4 | Julien BRICHÉ |  |
JSB Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 14 | 1:46.573 | 1.347 |
| 9 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 1:46.828 | 1.602 |
| 10 | 99 | Josh FILES |  |
Hell Energy Racing with KCMG | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 12 | 1:46.913 | 1.687 |
| 11 | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 1:46.954 | 1.728 |
| 12 | 38 | Danny KROES | |
PCR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 14 | 1:46.973 | 1.747 |
| 13 | 9 | Attila TASSI | |
Hell Energy Racing with KCMG | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 14 | 1:47.008 | 1.782 |
| 14 | 11 | Jens Reno MØLLER |  |
Reno Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 13 | 1:47.385 | 2.159 |
| 15 | 7 | Igor STEFANOVSKI |  |
Stefanovski Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:47.739 | 2.513 |
| 16 | 26 | Francisco MORA |  |
M1RA | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | 1:47.943 | 2.717 |
| 17 | 14 | Loris CENCETTI |  |
Autodis Racing by Piro Sports | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | 1:48.183 | 2.957 |
| 18 | 10 | Viktor DAVIDOVSKY | |
PSS Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 15 | 1:48.217 | 2.991 |
| 19 | 20 | Márk JEDLÓCZKY | |
JLG Sport | CUPRA TCR | 14 | 1:48.400 | 3.174 |
| 20 | 23 | Francisco ABREU | |
Sports & You | Peugeot 308 TCR | 2 | 1:51.214 | 5.988 |
| 21 | 21 | Marie BAUS-COPPENS | |
JSB Compétition | CUPRA TCR DSG | 14 | 1:51.270 | 6.044 |
| 22 | 17 | Martin RYBA |  |
Brutal Fish Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 1:59.677 | 14.451 |