Néstor Girolami leads the times in interrupted first practice

Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami was the fastest driver in Friday’s first FIA World Touring Car Cup practice session on the streets of Vila Real, as the session was twice interrupted by red flag periods.

Girolami went to the top of the timesheets in the last five minutes of the session, the Argentine putting his Honda clear by just over a tenth of a second with his lap of 2 minutes 1.971 seconds.

Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani – on the front row last year – was second after a late lap, the Moroccan denying Münnich Motorsport a 1-2 at the top of the times with Esteban Guerrieri in third.

Lynk & Co’s Yvan Muller was fourth fastest after the Frenchman improved his time in the final seconds of the session, just ahead of the leading Hyundai of Augusto Farfus in fifth, who likewise went faster just moments before Muller, having been 14^th.

Norbert Michelisz followed his BRC Racing team-mate in sixth, ahead of last year’s race one pole-sitter Rob Huff in seventh, the SLR driver proving that the Volkswagens remain a force to be reckoned with on the street circuit.

Reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini was eighth, with the CUPRA and Hyundai of Aurélien Panis and Nicky Catsburg completing the top ten respectively.

None of the Audis made it into the top ten, the best-placed RS3 being Jean-Karl Vernay in 18^th, 1.7 seconds off the pace as the Ingolstadt marque’s cars struggled for pace early on around the fast street circuit.

The session saw two red flag periods, the first when a tyre stack was dislodged and had to be recovered, with a second red flag just a few minutes later which was quickly resolved.

Second practice takes place at 09:00 GMT / BST (10:00 CEST) on Saturday.

Session results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	29	Néstor GIROLAMI		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type R TCR	18	2:01.971	0.000
2	25	Mehdi BENNANI		SLR VW Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	18	2:02.133	0.162
3	86	Esteban GUERRIERI		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type R TCR	19	2:02.188	0.217
4	100	Yvan MULLER		Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	14	2:02.497	0.526
5	8	Augusto FARFUS		BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai i30 N TCR	20	2:02.646	0.675
6	5	Norbert MICHELISZ		BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai i30 N TCR	18	2:02.800	0.829
7	12	Rob HUFF		SLR VW Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	16	2:02.839	0.868
8	1	Gabriele TARQUINI		BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai i30 N TCR	15	2:02.854	0.883
9	21	Aurélien PANIS		Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing	CUPRA TCR	18	2:02.929	0.958
10	88	Nicky CATSBURG		BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai i30 N TCR	18	2:03.038	1.067
11	68	Yann EHRLACHER		Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	16	2:03.274	1.303
12	50	Tom CORONEL		Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing	CUPRA TCR	19	2:03.433	1.462
13	14	Johan KRISTOFFERSSON		SLR Volkswagen	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	18	2:03.508	1.537
14	55	Ma QING HUA		Team Mulsanne	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	18	2:03.534	1.563
15	18	Tiago MONTEIRO		KCMG	Honda Civic Type R TCR	19	2:03.570	1.599
16	111	Andy PRIAULX		Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	20	2:03.618	1.647
17	9	Attila TASSI		KCMG	Honda Civic Type R TCR	16	2:03.643	1.672
18	69	Jean-Karl VERNAY		Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	14	2:03.672	1.701
19	96	Mikel AZCONA		PWR Racing	CUPRA TCR	17	2:03.681	1.710
20	11	Thed BJÖRK		Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	17	2:03.721	1.750
21	33	Benjamin LEUCHTER		SLR Volkswagen	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	19	2:03.995	2.024
22	31	Kevin CECCON		Team Mulsanne	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	18	2:04.807	2.836
23	22	Frédéric VERVISCH		Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	13	2:04.817	2.846
24	52	Gordon SHEDDEN		Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	15	2:04.988	3.017
25	10	Niels LANGEVELD		Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	19	2:05.341	3.370
26	37	Daniel HAGLÖF		PWR Racing	CUPRA TCR	13	2:05.693	3.722