Janík Motorsport’s Mat’o Homola posted the fastest lap in the first TCR Europe free practice session at the Autodromo do Algarve, two tenths faster than the best time in testing a day previously.
Homola posted a time of 1:52.276, which is already a second and a half faster than the TCR International pole time from 2015.
Homola, racing a Janík Motorsport Hyundai Elantra for the first time in the series, was a mere 0.038 seconds faster than the Halder Motorsport Honda of Jack Young in second.
“It’s good to start the season like that, especially with a new car,” said Homola. “I feel really good in the car, but this is only our third outing with the new Elantra after one test in the Slovakiaring and one test race event.
“It takes a slightly different driving style and so I’m still getting used to it. We don’t know what the others are doing, whether they are playing or something, but I’m pretty happy with the pace and the behaviour of the car.
“Everyone knows where they have to improve and everyone will improve, that’s for sure. But also we need to work on the weaknesses that we know about.
“This was free practice, after all, and Qualifying is the most important thing.”
The session saw a minor controversy early on, when six cars were black-flagged for not having completed the administrative document checks. The four Volcano Motorsport CUPRAs of Isidro Callejas, Klim Gavrilov, Evgenii Leonov and Gustavo Moura Jr were later allowed to join the session.
Comtoyou Racing’s Franco Girolami was third quickest, the 2021 title challenger 0.171 seconds adrift of the fastest time, ahead of Mike Halder in fourth, a mere 0.004 seconds further back.
2021 TCR South America champion Pepe Oriola was fifth, ahead of the second-quickest Hyundai of Felice Jelmini in sixth, who also headed up the Target Competition contingent of cars.
Completing the top ten were Tom Coronel in seventh, Isidro Callejas in eighth, Jáchym Galáš in ninth and Josh Files in tenth.
Target Motorsport’s Files had in fact been the first driver to post the top time, with a 1:52.947, which he never bettered for the rest of the session.
The only drivers to fail to post a competitive time were Giacomo Ghermandi and Miklas Born, with neither driver completing a lap.
Free practice two is scheduled for 15:30 local time (15:30 BST, 16:30 CEST).
Session results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 70 |  |
Mat’o HOMOLA | Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1:52.276 | – |
| 2 | 62 |  |
Jack YOUNG | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 10 | 1:52.314 | 0.038 |
| 3 | 72 |  |
Franco GIROLAMI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 11 | 1:52.447 | 0.171 |
| 4 | 7 |  |
Mike HALDER | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 10 | 1:52.451 | 0.175 |
| 5 | 74 |  |
Pepe ORIOLA | Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 9 | 1:52.475 | 0.199 |
| 6 | 44 |  |
Felice JELMINI | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 9 | 1:52.539 | 0.263 |
| 7 | 33 |  |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 13 | 1:52.779 | 0.503 |
| 8 | 26 | |
Isidro CALLEJAS | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 9 | 1:52.820 | 0.544 |
| 9 | 24 |  |
Jáchym GALÁŠ | Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1:52.914 | 0.638 |
| 10 | 99 | |
Josh FILES | Target Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 1:52.947 | 0.671 |
| 11 | 8 | |
Nicola BALDAN | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 9 | 1:52.956 | 0.680 |
| 12 | 16 |  |
Evgenii LEONOV | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 1:53.050 | 0.774 |
| 13 | 14 | |
Klim GAVRILOV | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 6 | 1:53.086 | 0.810 |
| 14 | 53 | |
Michelle HALDER | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 11 | 1:53.087 | 0.811 |
| 15 | 17 | |
Martin RYBA | Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 8 | 1:53.660 | 1.384 |
| 16 | 2 |  |
Luís CIDADE | Élite Motorsport by Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 8 | 1:53.775 | 1.499 |
| 17 | 110 |  |
Viktor DAVIDOVSKI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 12 | 1:53.927 | 1.651 |
| 18 | 27 |  |
John FILIPPI | Sébastien Loeb Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 1:54.709 | 2.433 |
| 19 | 124 | |
Gustavo MOURA JR | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 10 | 1:54.962 | 2.686 |
| 20 | 3 | |
Giacomo GHERMANDI | Lema Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |
| 21 | 18 |  |
Miklas BORN | Élite Motorsport by Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 0 | No time | N/A |