Esteban Guerrieri emerged as the fastest driver from the opening World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) practice session, posting a lap time of 2 minutes 5.936 seconds around the Hungaroring.
On a wet track, Guerrieri was quickest by a margin of just one hundredth of a second from Zengő Motorsport‘s Mikel Azcona in second place, the Spaniard’s CUPRA again looking as rapid as it had done in Slovakia last week.
Despite the increased success ballast in his Audi, Nathanaël Berthon made use of the damp conditions to minimise the impact of his car’s weight gain by going third quickest, a mere four thousandths of a second slower than Azcona.
Gilles Magnus was next up in another of the Comtoyou Racing Audis in fourth place, while Gabriele Tarquini was the best of the Hyundai bunch in fifth.
After a torrid weekend last time out, Néstor Girolami started this one as the sixth fastest driver in free practice one in his new Honda, around eight tenths off the pace of team-mate Guerrieri.
The quickest Lynk & Co driver in this session was Sweden’s Thed Björk in seventh place, and a good showing from Münnich Motorsport’s Tiago Monteiro secured him a position in the top eight.
Championship leader Yann Ehrlacher was ninth, while reigning champion and home favourite Norbert Michelisz rounded out the top ten, despite being hampered by a misfire throughout the session. The Hungarian was also the last driver within a second of the pace.
Elsewhere, Tom Coronel came back down from the highs of the Slovakiaring to end up as the fourteenth fastest driver in this session, going marginally quicker than local driver Bence Boldizs in fifteenth.
Boldizs’ Hungarian compatriots, Attila Tassi and Gàbor Kismarty-Lechner completed the session in seventeenth and twenty-second place respectively, while there was work to do for the two new drivers on the grid as well.
WTCR rookie José Manuel Sapag survived a spin at turn one to end practice one in twenty-first, while Nico Gruber was twentieth.
Free Practice two is scheduled to get underway at 13:30 CEST (12:30 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 13 | 2:05.936 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 18 | 2:06.045 | 0.109 |
| 3 | 17 | Nathanaël BERTHON |  |
Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 2:06.049 | 0.113 |
| 4 | 16 | Gilles MAGNUS |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 2:06.586 | 0.650 |
| 5 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 2:06.729 | 0.793 |
| 6 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 15 | 2:06.763 | 0.827 |
| 7 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 14 | 2:06.765 | 0.829 |
| 8 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 17 | 2:06.802 | 0.866 |
| 9 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 15 | 2:06.877 | 0.941 |
| 10 | 1 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 17 | 2:06.913 | 0.977 |
| 11 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | 16 | 2:07.045 | 1.109 |
| 12 | 12 | Santiago URRUTIA |  |
Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 17 | 2:07.046 | 1.110 |
| 13 | 100 | Yvan MULLER | |
Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 16 | 2:07.247 | 1.311 |
| 14 | 31 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 13 | 2:07.299 | 1.363 |
| 15 | 55 | Bence BOLDIZS | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 18 | 2:07.450 | 1.514 |
| 16 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER |  |
Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 2:07.698 | 1.762 |
| 17 | 9 | Attila TASSI | |
ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 15 | 2:07.752 | 1.816 |
| 18 | 34 | Aurélien COMTE | |
Vuković Motorsport | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 15 | 2:08.087 | 2.151 |
| 19 | 25 | Luca FILIPPI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | 16 | 2:09.012 | 3.076 |
| 20 | 97 | Nicolas GRUBER |  |
Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 2:10.391 | 4.455 |
| 21 | 28 | José Manuel SAPAG | |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 2:11.264 | 5.328 |
| 22 | 99 | Gábor KISMARTY-LECHNER | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 17 | 2:12.916 | 6.980 |