Wildcard entry and experienced Nordschleife racer René Rast topped the times in an increasingly wet first practice for the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) at the Nürburgring.
Rain started to fall before the session began, resulting in an increasingly wet circuit through the 40-minute session.
That effectively meant drivers’ first laps were always going to be their fastest, with DTM champion and WTCR newbie Rast ending up at the top of the times.
“It was very slippery, to be honest,” explained Rast. “It was my first time with the car on the Nordschleife. The first lap was on slicks, and I almost lost the car two or three times, so I had to take it as bit more careful in the laps after.
“Then it started to rain, and it was even more difficult to drive. It was very fun, but very hard and difficult.”
Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Rob Huff was second, with a close time that was just under two seconds slower than Rast’s Audi, whilst team-mate Mehdi Bennani was third in his Volkswagen Golf.
Leopard Lukoil driver Jean-Karl Vernay was fourth, 4.4 seconds back, but there was bad news for the Frenchman’s team-mate Gordon Shedden, who clouted the barriers on his first lap of the Nordschleife in the first sector, leaving the Scot to limp back to the pits with a damaged RS3 for the next 20 minutes.
Pepe Oriola was the leading CUPRA driver in fifth, ahead of the fastest of the Hyundais, YMR’s Yvan Muller in sixth.
Several drivers lost their cars in the conditions, and the session came to a close under yellow flags after Zengő Motorsport’s Zsolt Szabó lost his CUPRA at Turn 46 and hit the barriers.
Second practice immediately follows at 12:30 CEST (11:30 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 3 | 9:29.163 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 2 | 9:31.017 | 1.854 |
| 3 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 9:33.216 | 4.053 |
| 4 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 3 | 9:33.616 | 4.453 |
| 5 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 9:34.444 | 5.281 |
| 6 | 48 | Yvan MULLER | |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 9:38.465 | 9.302 |
| 7 | 94 | Kris RICHARD |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 9:50.536 | 21.373 |
| 8 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 2 | 10:02.710 | 33.547 |
| 9 | 88 | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 2 | 10:10.820 | 41.657 |
| 10 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 3 | 10:14.008 | 44.845 |
| 11 | 15 | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 10:24.326 | 55.163 |
| 12 | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 10:26.246 | 57.083 |
| 13 | 63 | Benjamin LESSENNES |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 10:36.918 | 7.755 |
| 14 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 11:08.952 | 39.789 |
| 15 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 11:09.242 | 40.079 |
| 16 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 11:10.916 | 41.753 |
| 17 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 4 | 11:11.339 | 42.176 |
| 18 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 2 | 11:13.048 | 43.885 |
| 19 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 11:13.484 | 44.321 |
| 20 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 2 | 11:16.946 | 47.783 |
| 21 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 3 | 11:23.545 | 54.382 |
| 22 | 20 | Denis DUPONT | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 2 | 11:23.943 | 54.780 |
| 23 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 2 | 11:30.206 | 1.043 |
| 24 | 8 | Norbert NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 2 | 11:31.720 | 2.557 |
| 25 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 2 | 11:32.045 | 2.882 |
| 26 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 1 | 21:06.211 | 37.048 |
| 27 | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 2 | No time | N/A |