Norbert Michelisz went fastest of all in WTCR Free Practice Two, just three hundredths of a second quicker than Jean-Karl Vernay who made it a 1-2 result for Hyundai.
Just as in the previous session however, Vernay was the early pace-setter with a lap time of 01:40.073 – still a few tenths shy of the time set by Mikel Azcona earlier this morning, though.
Thed Bjork then took the top spot with a lap time of 01:39.830, and it wasn’t long before Yann Ehrlacher joined him at the sharp end of the standings with a time good enough for second.
The Cyan Racing 1-2 was short-lived though, as Azcona then split the pair of them with a lap time of 01:39.902. So far, the Spaniard had been extracting better pace out of his CUPRA than was perhaps expected given the marque’s increased compensation weight allocation for this weekend.
Hyundai’s 2021 talisman Vernay then shot up to first again with a lap time of 01:39.723. For the Frenchman’s championship aspirations, it will be important for him to be able to go toe to toe with Cyan Racing once the sessions get competitive.
Next up, it was Audi’s turn to go fastest of all. Gilles Magnus, the Junior Drivers’ championship points leader would go six tenths of a second quicker than he managed to during Practice One, but even that wasn’t enough to keep Bjork at bay as the Swede promptly overhauled the Belgian.
Even quicker still, Bjork was then beaten by team-mate Santiago Urrutia; the Uruguayan posting a lap time of 01:39.257.
As the session began to wind down, Norbert Michelisz embarked on a qualifying simulation, and in doing so went to the top of the time sheets, setting a lap time of 01:39.178 – the quickest time of the day.
Vernay would also improve again, ensuring that the session ended as a 1-2 result for Hyundai. But then, shortly after that, the session was red-flagged with just seconds left on the clock as Tom Coronel’s Audi ground to a halt.
Urrutia wound up best of the rest in third place, with fellow championship contender and Cyan Racing stablemate Ehrlacher in fifth. Azcona slotted in between the two in fourth.
Bjork and Yvan Muller made it four Lynk & Cos in the top seven, while Gabriele Tarquini – who was slowest of all in Practice One – posted the eighth fastest time of Practice Two.
Honda’s perceived struggles continued in this session, with Nestor Girolami once again the best of their bunch in ninth. Nathanael Berthon completed the top ten.
Wildcard Petr Fulin was always likely to be a bit slower in this session compared to his stunning performance in Practice One. He had been running brand new tyres earlier on in the day, compared to used ones for everybody else. However, as the track had now evolved and ‘rubbered in’, the championship’s regular teams opted for a fresher set of slicks. As a result, the local Czech driver could only manage a time good enough for eighteenth this time around, though it does mean that he’ll have brand new tyres available for qualifying.
Frederic Vervisch was unable to take part in this practice session from the get-go, with the technical issue that befell his car in Practice One proving to be quite a big task to solve. He did manage to get out on track with a few minutes to spare though, and looks in good stead to be able to take part in qualifying which gets underway today at 16:45 local time (15:45 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 5 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 14 | 1:39.178 | – |
| 2 | 69 |  |
Jean-Karl VERNAY | Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 14 | 1:39.201 | 0.023 |
| 3 | 12 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 12 | 1:39.257 | 0.079 |
| 4 | 96 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 14 | 1:39.271 | 0.093 |
| 5 | 68 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 12 | 1:39.279 | 0.101 |
| 6 | 11 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 13 | 1:39.320 | 0.142 |
| 7 | 100 | |
Yvan MULLER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 12 | 1:39.383 | 0.205 |
| 8 | 3 |  |
Gabriele TARQUINI | BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 1:39.440 | 0.262 |
| 9 | 29 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 12 | 1:39.564 | 0.386 |
| 10 | 17 | |
Nathanaël BERTHON | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 12 | 1:39.577 | 0.399 |
| 11 | 79 |  |
Rob HUFF | Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 1:39.620 | 0.442 |
| 12 | 16 |  |
Gilles MAGNUS | Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 1:39.679 | 0.501 |
| 13 | 8 |  |
Luca ENGSTLER | Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 14 | 1:39.783 | 0.605 |
| 14 | 9 | |
Attila TASSI | ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 12 | 1:39.809 | 0.631 |
| 15 | 32 |  |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 12 | 1:39.917 | 0.739 |
| 16 | 86 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 12 | 1:39.950 | 0.772 |
| 17 | 18 |  |
Tiago MONTEIRO | ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 13 | 1:40.025 | 0.847 |
| 18 | 222 |  |
Petr FULÍN | Petr Fulín | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 1:40.239 | 1.061 |
| 19 | 55 | |
Bence BOLDIZS | Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 1:40.785 | 1.607 |
| 20 | 22 | |
Frédéric VERVISCH | Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 6 | No time | N/A |