Hyundai’s Norbert Michelisz topped the times in the first FIA TCR World Tour practice session in Marrakech, as Moroccan racer Sami Taoufik starred on home soil.
Michelisz hit the top of the times with just under a minute to go, then bettered his lap time by a tenth and a half of a second on his next lap to end the session with a time of 50.802 seconds.
His BRC Racing team-mate Néstor Girolami put his Hyundai in second, just 0.026 seconds behind, as times tumbled in the closing stages on the short 1.98 km circuit.
Volcano Motorsport’s Taoufik ended up in third, having enjoyed several spells at the top of the timesheets in the session, a mere 0.059 seconds adrift of the ultimate pace.
Mikel Azcona made it three Hyundai’s in the top four places, a fraction under a tenth of a second behind his reigning champion team-mate.
GOAT Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri was fifth as the best-placed Honda, ahead of guest entry team-mate Dušan Borković in another of the Civic Type-Rs.
Local wildcard entry Mehdi Bennani was seventh in the only new CUPRA Leon VZ on the grid, the Moroccan just over half a second off the pace.
Thed Björk was Cyan Racing’s best driver in eighth, almost seven tenths off the pace. In a difficult opening session for the Lynk & Co team he was the only one of its quartet of drivers in the top ten of a 15-car field.
The top ten was completed by the Audi of Volcano Motorsport’s John Filippi and the Honda of GOAT Racing’s Marco Butti.
Yann Ehrlacher was just 12th, having caused a red flag when he stopped on circuit with plastic debris blocking the front of his car, whilst team-mates Ma Qing Hua (13th) and Santiago Urrutia (14th) were also nine tenths off the pace.
Second practice gets underway at 13:00 local time (13:00 BST, 14:00 CEST).
Session results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 24 | 50.802 | – |
| 2 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 26 | 51.023 | 0.221 |
| 3 | 212 |  |
Sami TAOUFIK | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 24 | 51.033 | 0.231 |
| 4 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 25 | 51.191 | 0.389 |
| 5 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 18 | 51.305 | 0.503 |
| 6 | 62 |  |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 26 | 51.388 | 0.586 |
| 7 | 125 | |
Mehdi BENNANI | Team Clairet Sport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 26 | 51.404 | 0.602 |
| 8 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 25 | 51.475 | 0.673 |
| 9 | 127 |  |
John FILIPPI | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 26 | 51.509 | 0.707 |
| 10 | 199 |  |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 21 | 51.632 | 0.830 |
| 11 | 30 | |
Julien PIGUET | Team Clairet Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 27 | 51.656 | 0.854 |
| 12 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 22 | 51.701 | 0.899 |
| 13 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 23 | 51.763 | 0.961 |
| 14 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 23 | 51.785 | 0.983 |
| 15 | 41 | |
Victor FERNÁNDEZ Gil | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 15 | 55.113 | 4.311 |