Pepe Oriola lead a Craft-Bamboo Racing 1-2 in the first TCR International Series practice session at Monza, with James Nash over half a second behind.
Oriola went to the top of the times with just over ten minutes remaining when he put in a time of 2 minutes 0.627 seconds, but the Spaniard then went even quicker on his final flying lap to be the only driver to break the two-minute barrier.
Nash was second, 0.681 seconds behind his team-mate, with third-placed M1RA driver Roberto Colciago being the only other driver to be within a second of the pace.
The Alfa Romeo of Davit Kajaia was fourth quickest, 1.117 seconds adrift of the pace, ahead of the second M1RA Honda of Attila Tassi in fifth.
WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli had been the pace-setter early on in the session, but the Italian didn’t improve thereafter and ended up in sixth with his best effort.
Pierre-Yves Corthals put his DG Sport Opel Astra in seventh, ahead of the third Craft-Bamboo SEAT of Hugo Valente in eighth.
TCR newcomer Jaap van Lagen was the leading Leopard Racing driver in ninth, whilst points leader Jean-Karl Vernay could only manage 16th, over 2.5 seconds off the pace.
The only incident of note was Zengő Motorsport’s Ferenc Ficza going straight on at the Turn 1 chicane without acknowledging the barriers, with a reminder coming from the stewards that anyone missing the chicane must negotiate the barriers.
Engine issues for Stian Paulsen prevented the Norwegian driver from taking part in the session, whilst Icarus Motorsport’s Duncan Ende will not race this weekend after electing to skip the event to upgrade the team’s SEAT León to the latest specification.
Second practice takes place at 13:155 CEST (12:55 BST) on Friday, ahead of qualifying and race one on Saturday.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 12 | 1:59.892 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 54 | James NASH |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 13 | 2:00.573 | 0.681 |
| 3 | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 13 | 2:00.766 | 0.874 |
| 4 | 16 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 12 | 2:01.009 | 1.117 |
| 5 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 13 | 2:01.119 | 1.227 |
| 6 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 2:01.167 | 1.275 |
| 7 | 23 | Pierre-Yves CORTHALS |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 13 | 2:01.207 | 1.315 |
| 8 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 13 | 2:01.239 | 1.347 |
| 9 | 14 | Jaap VAN LAGEN |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 2:01.296 | 1.404 |
| 10 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 2:01.296 | 1.404 |
| 11 | 55 | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zele Racing | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 2:01.367 | 1.475 |
| 12 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 2:01.618 | 1.726 |
| 13 | 21 | Giacomo ALTOÈ | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 2:01.819 | 1.927 |
| 14 | 6 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 2:01.820 | 1.928 |
| 15 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 10 | 2:02.111 | 2.219 |
| 16 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 2:02.469 | 2.577 |
| 17 | 11 | Jens Reno MOLLER |  |
Reno Racing | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 12 | 2:03.424 | 3.532 |
| 18 | 76 | Daniele CAPPELLARI | |
CRC | SEAT León TCR DSG | 13 | 2:05.378 | 5.486 |
| 19 | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | SEAT León TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |