Chinese racer Ma Qing Hua dominated the second World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) free practice session in Shanghai, with the Citroën driver almost half a second clear of Citroën team-mate José María López.
Ma led a Citroën 1-2-3 in the times, being followed by López and Sébastien Loeb. Yvan Muller, who had earlier been the fastest driver in first practice, was fifth fastest and 0.630 seconds off the pace of his Chinese team-mate.
Splitting the Citroëns in fourth was Proteam Racing’s Mehdi Bennani, who ended the session as the top Honda driver just over half a second off the pace.
Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz was sixth, whilst the two works’ Honda drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro could only manage the ninth and tenth best times respectively, with the latter more than a second off the pace.
Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente was the top Chevrolet driver in seventh position, just 0.014 seconds ahead of team-mate Dušan Borković in eighth.
Neither ROAL Motorsport drivers could break into the top ten this time, with Tom Coronel in 11th beating team-mate Tom Chilton in 12th.
LADA continued to struggle for pace around the Grand Prix circuit, although this time it was James Thompson as the top driver for the marque in 13th position, with the Brit managing to get his Granta to within two seconds of the pace.
Session results
POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
1 | 33 | TC1 | MA Qing Hua | Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 1:51.032 | ||
2 | 37 | TC1 | José María LÓPEZ | Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 1:51.499 | 0.467 | |
3 | 9 | TC1 | Sébastien LOEB | Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 1:51.541 | 0.509 | |
4 | 25 | TC1 | Mehdi BENNANI | Proteam Racing | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:51.618 | 0.586 | |
5 | 1 | TC1 | Yvan MULLER | Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 11 | 1:51.662 | 0.630 | |
6 | 5 | TC1 | Norbert MICHELISZ | Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:51.695 | 0.663 | |
7 | 7 | TC1 | Hugo VALENTE | Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 11 | 1:51.796 | 0.764 | |
8 | 98 | TC1 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ | NIS Petrol by Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 9 | 1:51.812 | 0.780 | |
9 | 2 | TC1 | Gabriele TARQUINI | Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:51.842 | 0.810 | |
10 | 18 | TC1 | Tiago MONTEIRO | Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:52.096 | 1.064 |