DG Sport Compétition’s Mato Homola topped the timesheets in the opening World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) practice session at Suzuka with a late effort of 2:13.087s.
The Peugeot racer was amongst four late improvers believed to be running fresh rubber in the final minutes to eclipse Norbert Michelisz’s early benchmark.
Homola edged out Aurélien Panis in the final moments of the session after the latter had set his best time on his tenth tour of the legendary Suzuka circuit.
Homola’s teammate Aurélien Comte made it two DG Sport Compétition Peugeot’s in the top three ahead of Esteban Guerrieri’s Honda.
Michelisz was the top Hyundai, setting the pace early on in the 30-minute session with an effort eventually good enough for fifth ahead of Denis Dupont.
In seventh was Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani – the only Volkswagen in the top ten – ahead of Pepe Oriola’s lively CUPRA which had a high-speed off-track moment at 130R in the latter stages.
Fellow CUPRA runner John Fillippi impressed in ninth, with Nathanaël Berthon rounding out the top ten.
Tiago Monteiro made a welcome return to a great reception at the end of the pit lane just before the session went green, 415 days after his massive testing shunt in September 2017.
Neither Zengö Motorsport CUPRAs ran in the session, as both Norbert Nagy and Zsolt David Szabo were not present at the circuit and required collecting from their hotel.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 2:13.087 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:13.243 | 0.156 |
| 3 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 2:13.519 | 0.432 |
| 4 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:13.804 | 0.717 |
| 5 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 2:13.864 | 0.777 |
| 6 | 20 | Denis DUPONT |  |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:13.918 | 0.831 |
| 7 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 2:13.985 | 0.898 |
| 8 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 10 | 2:14.022 | 0.935 |
| 9 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 2:14.064 | 0.977 |
| 10 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:14.099 | 1.012 |
| 11 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:14.134 | 1.047 |
| 12 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 12 | 2:14.152 | 1.065 |
| 13 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 2:14.161 | 1.074 |
| 14 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 12 | 2:14.217 | 1.130 |
| 15 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:14.357 | 1.270 |
| 16 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 11 | 2:14.363 | 1.276 |
| 17 | 42 | Timo SCHEIDER |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 11 | 2:14.412 | 1.325 |
| 18 | 48 | Yvan MULLER | |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 2:14.437 | 1.350 |
| 19 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 12 | 2:14.579 | 1.492 |
| 20 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:14.640 | 1.553 |
| 21 | 16 | Luigi FERRARA | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 2:14.863 | 1.776 |
| 22 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 9 | 2:15.084 | 1.997 |
| 23 | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 7 | 2:15.345 | 2.258 |
| 24 | 8 | Norbert NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |
| 25 | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |