Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia drew first blood in the first test session for the FIA World Touring Car Cup at Zolder, beating Münnich Motorsport’s Attila Tassi by just over a tenth of a second in the morning session.
Uruguayan Urrutia lapped the Belgian circuit in 1 minute 37.063 seconds as the fastest driver of all in the morning session, which was disrupted by a red flag period.
Honda racer Tassi was 0.142 seconds back in second, ahead of the Audi of Comtoyou Racing’s Tom Coronel in third.
Four-time World Champion Yvan Muller made it a strong start to the weekend for Lynk & Co by going fourth fastest, 0.228 seconds off his new team-mate’s time, ahead of Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami in fifth.
Local racer Gilles Magnus, contesting the full WTCR season, was sixth, ahead of the leading Hyundai of Engstler Motorsport’s Nicky Catsburg in seventh.
Reigning champion Norbert Michelisz was just 12th fastest, the Hyundai driver being almost seven tenths off the pace.
Notably, none of Zengő Motorsport’s new CUPRA Leon Competición cars took to the track, leaving Mikel Azcona, Bence Boldizs and Gábor Kismarty-Lechner without a time, along with Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri.
Testing continues this afternoon for four hours from 1300 CEST, whilst the first free practice session is not until Friday afternoon.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 12 | Santiago URRUTIA |  |
Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 26 | 1:37.063 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 23 | 1:37.205 | 0.142 |
| 3 | 31 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 20 | 1:37.247 | 0.184 |
| 4 | 100 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 28 | 1:37.291 | 0.228 |
| 5 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 18 | 1:37.329 | 0.266 |
| 6 | 16 | Gilles MAGNUS |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 23 | 1:37.335 | 0.272 |
| 7 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG | |
Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 31 | 1:37.437 | 0.374 |
| 8 | 17 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 24 | 1:37.511 | 0.448 |
| 9 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | 32 | 1:37.546 | 0.483 |
| 10 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 34 | 1:37.591 | 0.528 |
| 11 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 30 | 1:37.619 | 0.556 |
| 12 | 1 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 41 | 1:37.734 | 0.671 |
| 13 | 25 | Luca FILIPPI |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | 30 | 1:37.868 | 0.805 |
| 14 | 7 | Jack YOUNG |  |
Vuković Motorsport | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 20 | 1:38.304 | 1.241 |
| 15 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 33 | 1:38.434 | 1.371 |
| 16 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 20 | 1:38.438 | 1.375 |
| 17 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER |  |
Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 30 | 1:39.079 | 2.016 |
| 18 | 33 | Dylan O’KEEFFE |  |
Vuković Motorsport | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 18 | 1:39.454 | 2.391 |
| 19 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 3 | No time | N/A |
| 20 | 55 | Bence BOLDIZS | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 0 | No time | N/A |
| 21 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 0 | No time | N/A |
| 22 | 99 | Gábor KISMARTY-LECHNER | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 0 | No time | N/A |