Gilles Magnus went fastest of all in the first FIA World Touring Car Cup practice session of the weekend, as the drivers tackled a low-grip surface at the newly re-paved Adria International Raceway.
Fresh off the back of his retirement announcement yesterday, Gabriele Tarquini set the initial benchmark lap time of 01:55.730. However, after a succession of installation laps, the pace quickly began to quicken with Nestor Girolami ultimately going on to set a time of 01:52.394.
Yvan Muller then cleared Girolami’s time by just over a tenth of a second, and shortly afterwards his team-mate Yann Ehrlacher went even quicker still. The pair of them continued to swap places with each other as the laps went by, with Muller eventually re-taking the top spot.
That wouldn’t last for long though, as the third Lynk & Co of Santiago Urrutia became the first driver to break the 1 minute 51 seconds barrier. The Uruguayan found lots of extra pace in the first two sectors, but was slower in the second part of lap, suggesting that there was plenty of time still yet to be found.
Magnus then breached the 4-car Lynk & Co train at the top of the timesheets, going second-fastest in his Audi – a car which should be benefitting from a revised Balance of Performance set-up this weekend.
Next to go fastest of all was Tarquini, who posted a lap time of 01:51.920, meanwhile his Hyundai team-mate Norbert Michelisz took a trip through the gravel trap during the switchback section of the track.
Soon enough though, Lynk & Co were back on top, with Thed Bjork setting a time of 01:51.569, while Muller and Ehrlacher moved up to second and third respectively.
However, before the pace could improve any further, the red flags were waved and the session was halted when a front-left suspension collapse forced Luca Engstler to stop his Hyundai Elantra on track after having clattered into one of the tyre stacks.
Practice eventually got back underway with 18 minutes left on the clock, but a trip off the circuit for Urrutia led to yellow flags being waved briefly in sector two.
Bjork then improved upon his own lap time to go fastest again, but for a while it looked as though Nathanael Berthon would be able to eclipse him. However, a slightly loose sector four put an end to that.
Magnus then swapped onto fresher rubber, and managed to achieve what his Audi stablemate Berthon failed to do, clearing Bjork’s benchmark by nearly half a second to set a lap time of 01:50.598.
Tarquini would end the session in second place for Hyundai ahead of Muller and Ehrlacher in two of the Cyan Racing Lynk & Cos.
Girolami wound up as the best of the Honda contingent in fifth, while Bjork eventually dropped to sixth ahead of Berthon in seventh.
Attila Tassi was the eighth-fastest driver in the opening practice session of the day, going narrowly quicker than fellow Honda driver Esteban Guerrieri. Urrutia rounded out the top ten.
Free practice two gets underway in just a couple of hours’ time at 12:30 local time (11:30 GMT).
Session results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 16 |  |
Gilles MAGNUS | Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 21 | 1:50.598 | – |
| 2 | 3 |  |
Gabriele TARQUINI | BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 18 | 1:50.659 | 0.061 |
| 3 | 100 |  |
Yvan MULLER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 20 | 1:50.696 | 0.098 |
| 4 | 68 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 18 | 1:50.881 | 0.283 |
| 5 | 29 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 18 | 1:50.939 | 0.341 |
| 6 | 11 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 20 | 1:51.053 | 0.455 |
| 7 | 17 | |
Nathanaël BERTHON | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 20 | 1:51.090 | 0.492 |
| 8 | 9 |  |
Attila TASSI | ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 18 | 1:51.152 | 0.554 |
| 9 | 86 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 18 | 1:51.305 | 0.707 |
| 10 | 12 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 18 | 1:51.328 | 0.730 |
| 11 | 18 |  |
Tiago MONTEIRO | ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 18 | 1:51.404 | 0.806 |
| 12 | 69 | |
Jean-Karl VERNAY | Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 18 | 1:51.439 | 0.841 |
| 13 | 22 | |
Frédéric VERVISCH | Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 19 | 1:51.664 | 1.066 |
| 14 | 5 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 16 | 1:51.674 | 1.076 |
| 15 | 32 |  |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 1:51.884 | 1.286 |
| 16 | 79 |  |
Rob HUFF | Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 19 | 1:52.144 | 1.546 |
| 17 | 96 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 20 | 1:52.194 | 1.596 |
| 18 | 82 | |
Nicola BALDAN | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 20 | 1:52.423 | 1.825 |
| 19 | 55 | |
Bence BOLDIZS | Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 21 | 1:52.928 | 2.330 |
| 20 | 28 | |
Jordi GENÉ | Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 19 | 1:53.065 | 2.467 |
| 21 | 8 |  |
Luca ENGSTLER | Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 1:53.199 | 2.601 |