Mikel Azcona edges out Norbert Michelisz in second Sepang practice

PWR Racing’s Mikel Azcona set the fastest time in the second FIA World Touring Car Cup practice session at Sepang in Malaysia, as he beat BRC Racing’s Norbert Michelisz by just over two tenths of a second.

Azcona put in the quickest lap with just under ten minutes left in the session to go quickest of the weekend so far in his CUPRA, as first practice pace-setter and championship challenger Michelisz was second.

Michelisz’s Hyundai team-mate, reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini, was third fastest, ahead of Team Mulsanne’s Ma Qing Hua in fourth in his Alfa Romeo.

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Comtoyou Racing’s Frédéric Vervisch was the leading Audi driver in fifth, ahead of BRC’s Nicky Catsburg in sixth, just over three tenths off the pace.

Augusto Farfus, returning to the series after skipping the previous event in Macau, was seventh behind his Hyundai team-mate, ahead of Comtoyou Racing CUPRA driver Aurélien Panis in eighth.

The Audi of Niels Langeveld and the leading Honda of Tiago Monteiro completed the top ten, the latter just 0.491 seconds off the pace in a close session.

Néstor Girolami edged out Münnich Motorsport team-mate Esteban Guerrieri, with the Honda duo in 11^th and 12^th respectively.

Lynk & Co drivers struggled for pace, with title contender Yvan Muller only 15^th, nine tenths off Azcona’s time. His Cyan Racing team-mate Thed Björk was just 23^rd.

Of the wildcard racers, Malaysian MotoGP ace Hafizh Syahrin was the best in 20^th, 1.3 seconds off the pace in his Engstler Motorsport Hyundai. João Paulo de Oliveira was 27^th, whilst Mitchell Cheah and Douglas Khoo propped up the timesheet in 29^th and 30^th respectively.

Session results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	96	Mikel AZCONA		PWR Racing	CUPRA TCR	11	2:14.989	0.000
2	5	Norbert MICHELISZ		BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai i30 N TCR	10	2:15.206	0.217
3	1	Gabriele TARQUINI		BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai i30 N TCR	9	2:15.211	0.222
4	55	Ma QING HUA		Team Mulsanne	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	9	2:15.240	0.251
5	22	Frédéric VERVISCH		Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	9	2:15.272	0.283
6	88	Nicky CATSBURG		BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai i30 N TCR	8	2:15.291	0.302
7	8	Augusto FARFUS		BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai i30 N TCR	8	2:15.373	0.384
8	21	Aurélien PANIS		Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing	CUPRA TCR	7	2:15.377	0.388
9	10	Niels LANGEVELD		Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	8	2:15.399	0.410
10	18	Tiago MONTEIRO		KCMG	Honda Civic Type R TCR	10	2:15.408	0.419
11	29	Néstor GIROLAMI		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type R TCR	7	2:15.463	0.474
12	86	Esteban GUERRIERI		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type R TCR	7	2:15.714	0.725
13	69	Jean-Karl VERNAY		Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	7	2:15.752	0.763
14	37	Daniel HAGLÖF		PWR Racing	CUPRA TCR	9	2:15.889	0.900
15	100	Yvan MULLER		Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	8	2:15.893	0.904
16	12	Rob HUFF		SLR VW Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	7	2:15.942	0.953
17	52	Gordon SHEDDEN		Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	7	2:16.077	1.088
18	9	Attila TASSI		KCMG	Honda Civic Type R TCR	8	2:16.177	1.188
19	111	Andy PRIAULX		Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	10	2:16.211	1.222
20	15	Hafizh SYAHRIN Bin Abdullah		Hyundai Team Engstler	Hyundai i30 N TCR	10	2:16.367	1.378
21	31	Kevin CECCON		Team Mulsanne	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	9	2:16.424	1.435
22	33	Benjamin LEUCHTER		SLR Volkswagen	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	9	2:16.460	1.471
23	11	Thed BJÖRK		Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	8	2:16.559	1.570
24	14	Johan KRISTOFFERSSON		SLR Volkswagen	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	7	2:16.573	1.584
25	50	Tom CORONEL		Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing	CUPRA TCR	8	2:16.834	1.845
26	68	Yann EHRLACHER		Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	8	2:16.888	1.899
27	38	João Paulo Lima DE OLIVEIRA		KC Motorgroup	Honda Civic Type R TCR	9	2:16.970	1.981
28	25	Mehdi BENNANI		SLR VW Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	11	2:17.059	2.070
29	27	Mitchell CHEAH Min Jie		Hyundai Team Engstler	Hyundai i30 N TCR	8	2:17.440	2.451
30	65	Douglas KHOO Kok Hui		Viper Niza Racing	CUPRA TCR	11	2:20.578	5.589