Friday’s TCR World Tour / TCR Europe free practice sessions were both topped by Cyan Racing drivers, with Ma Qing Hua and Yann Ehrlacher taking it in turns to keep the Lynk & Co cars at the top of the times.
In first practice, held on a dry track, it was Ma who claimed the top time with just under two minutes to go, the Chinese racer leading with a lap of 1 minute 53.828 seconds – over half a second quicker than nearest rival Néstor Girolami’s Honda.
Ehrlacher himself was third, and the only other competitor within a second of Ma’s time in an unusually spaced out session.
Reigning WTCR champion Mikel Azcona was the best of the Hyundai racers in fourth, ahead of BRC Racing team-mate and home ‘hero’ Norbert Michelisz in fifth.
The leading TCR Europe racer was MA:GP’s Viktor Andersson, the Swede in tenth overall, over two seconds off the pace of the leading World Tour racer.
Second practice later in the day was affected by heavy rain, which came just as the session started and ultimately resulted in a 20-minute delay.
Faced with tricky conditions and lap times which were over 15 seconds slower, the times did not improve much as the session went on.
Ehrlacher ultimately ended up with the best time, a 2:08.500, a mere 0.035 seconds ahead of Ma and just 0.082 seconds ahead of Girolami, the top three drivers from FP1 thus occupying the top three places in FP2 in a different order.
Santiago Urrutia made it three Cyan Racing cars in the top four, and was the only other driver within a second of the pace.
Azcona was once again the best of the Hyundai drivers in fifth, whilst Comtoyou Racing’s Rob Huff was once again the fastest Audi driver and lead the RS3 contingent in sixth, 1.445 seconds of the pace.
Kobe Pauwels was this time the leading TCR Europe competitor in eighth, albeit over two and a half seconds off the pace in his Audi.
Qualifying is scheduled to get underway at 10:55 CEST on Saturday (09:55 BST).
First practice results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 1:53.828 | – |
| 2 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 1:54.419 | 0.591 |
| 3 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 1:54.750 | 0.922 |
| 4 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1:54.893 | 1.065 |
| 5 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 1:55.022 | 1.194 |
| 6 | 179 |  |
Rob HUFF | Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 15 | 1:55.098 | 1.270 |
| 7 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 1:55.172 | 1.344 |
| 8 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 1:55.373 | 1.545 |
| 9 | 127 |  |
Ruben VOLT | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 14 | 1:55.824 | 1.996 |
| 10 | 10 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 12 | 1:55.944 | 2.116 |
| 11 | 62 |  |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1:55.985 | 2.157 |
| 12 | 31 |  |
Kevin CECCON | Aggressive Team Italia | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1:56.024 | 2.196 |
| 13 | 122 |  |
Frédéric VERVISCH | Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 14 | 1:56.059 | 2.231 |
| 14 | 264 | |
Levente LOSONCZY | Aggressive Team Italia | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 14 | 1:56.151 | 2.323 |
| 15 | 11 |  |
Viktor DAVIDOVSKI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 13 | 1:56.181 | 2.353 |
| 16 | 27 | |
John FILIPPI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 12 | 1:56.420 | 2.592 |
| 17 | 34 |  |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 13 | 1:56.469 | 2.641 |
| 18 | 22 | |
Kobe PAUWELS | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 15 | 1:56.957 | 3.129 |
| 19 | 39 | |
Lewis BROWN | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 13 | 1:57.985 | 4.157 |
| 20 | 48 | |
Mikael KARLSSON | Aggressive Team Italia | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 1:58.960 | 5.132 |
| 21 | 7 |  |
Daniel TKACHENKO | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 13 | 2:00.421 | 6.593 |
Second practice results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 2:08.500 | – |
| 2 | 155 | |
MA Qing Hua | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 2:08.535 | 0.035 |
| 3 | 129 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 2:08.582 | 0.082 |
| 4 | 112 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 2:08.766 | 0.266 |
| 5 | 196 | |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 2:09.624 | 1.124 |
| 6 | 179 | |
Rob HUFF | Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 11 | 2:09.945 | 1.445 |
| 7 | 105 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 2:10.778 | 2.278 |
| 8 | 22 | |
Kobe PAUWELS | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 12 | 2:11.063 | 2.563 |
| 9 | 122 | |
Frédéric VERVISCH | Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 12 | 2:11.361 | 2.861 |
| 10 | 111 | |
Thed BJÖRK | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 2:11.570 | 3.070 |
| 11 | 34 | |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 12 | 2:11.723 | 3.223 |
| 12 | 31 | |
Kevin CECCON | Aggressive Team Italia | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 2:12.066 | 3.566 |
| 13 | 27 | |
John FILIPPI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 13 | 2:12.695 | 4.195 |
| 14 | 10 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 13 | 2:12.807 | 4.307 |
| 15 | 62 | |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 2:12.878 | 4.378 |
| 16 | 127 | |
Ruben VOLT | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 4 | 2:12.891 | 4.391 |
| 17 | 39 | |
Lewis BROWN | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 13 | 2:13.130 | 4.630 |
| 18 | 48 | |
Mikael KARLSSON | Aggressive Team Italia | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 2:13.441 | 4.941 |
| 19 | 264 | |
Levente LOSONCZY | Aggressive Team Italia | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 2:13.751 | 5.251 |
| 20 | 7 | |
Daniel TKACHENKO | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 13 | 2:14.193 | 5.693 |
| 21 | 11 | |
Viktor DAVIDOVSKI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 12 | 2:14.720 | 6.220 |