Polestar’s Nicky Catsburg was the fastest driver in second practice for the World Touring Car Championship in Argentina, as the Dutchman beat Campos Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri to the top time.
Catsburg went to the top of the timesheets in the final five minutes of the session when he put new tyres on his Volvo, edging out Argentine local Guerrieri to take the top spot.
“It was very different to FP1 which was very foggy, difficult to see and cold, whereas this session was just warm and easier to see,” said Catsburg. “The car performed well – at the end we took some fresher tyres and went P1, which is where we want to be.
“I’m very happy and looking forward to qualifying where hopefully we can do it again. So far it feels good.
“We have the idea that we should be OK here. We’ve dropped 20 kg of weight since Vila Real, which wasn’t so bad, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be at the front here.
“But then again, this morning straight from the get-go the Hondas were very fast, so I think they will still be very strong and they probably didn’t take [fresh] tyres, so we’ll have to see in qualifying. I think it’s going to be between us and the Hondas again.”
Behind Guerrieri were Honda duo Tiago Monteiro and Norbert Michelisz, half a second and seventh tenths off the pace respectively.
Rob Huff was the leading Münnich Motorsport Citroën driver in fifth, ahead of the second Polestar Volvo of Néstor Girolami in sixth, who was the last driver within a second of the front.
Volvo’s Thed Björk was just 12th, completing the fewest laps of any driver due to an off-track excursion that saw his car’s radiator get filled with grass.
The session took place in much clearer conditions than the fog-interrupted first practice, although some localised patches did remain at the start of the session before the sun broke through.
Qualifying takes place at 15:00 local time (19:00 BST, 20:00 CEST).
Session results
POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
1 | 63 | Nicky CATSBURG | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 16 | 1:43.207 | 0.000 | |
2 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI | Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 1:43.576 | 0.369 | |
3 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 16 | 1:43.706 | 0.499 | |
4 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 1:43.900 | 0.693 | |
5 | 12 | Rob HUFF | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 1:44.088 | 0.881 | |
6 | 61 | Néstor GIROLAMI | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 12 | 1:44.180 | 0.973 | |
7 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI | Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 1:44.230 | 1.023 | |
8 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 15 | 1:44.447 | 1.240 | |
9 | 9 | Tom CORONEL | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 17 | 1:44.742 | 1.535 | |
10 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 18 | 1:44.793 | 1.586 | |
11 | 34 | Ryo MICHIGAMI | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 8 | 1:45.308 | 2.101 | |
12 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 6 | 1:45.350 | 2.143 | |
13 | 24 | Kevin GLEASON | RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 20 | 1:45.460 | 2.253 | |
14 | 27 | John FILIPPI | Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 1:45.480 | 2.273 | |
15 | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 1:46.358 | 3.151 | |
16 | 99 | Dániel NAGY | Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:46.614 | 3.407 |