Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz topped the morning warm-up by almost a second ahead of today’s World Touring Car Championship races around the streets of Porto.
Click here for the full warm-up times.
Hungary’s Michelisz posted the fastest time inside the final minute of the 15-minute session to pip Portugese Monteiro to the top by 0.933 seconds. With conditions hot and expected to increase throughout the day to well above 30 degrees Celsius, Michelisz’s time fell shy of the top times achieved on Saturday.
“I was very sorry because of the mistake in qualifying,” said Michelisz after warm-up. “I’m not saying the first row would have been possible but third would have been. It would be a much better position for the rolling start because starting from the outside we’ll need some luck to stay fourth.
“I’m happy with the car, overall the balance and the grip [are good], which you can also see in the times. So I am confident for the races but on a street circuit it’s always a lottery – a lot of things can happen.”
Rob Huff was third in his Münnich Motorsport SEAT, 1.1 seconds off the pace. James Thompson once again showed encouraging pace in his LADA to go fourth, ahead of the top Chevrolet of Pepe Oriola in fifth.
Of note, Tom Coronel did not take part in the session in protest at the change to the qualifying result which occured on Saturday. The Dutchman had originally been classified in tenth and was set to benefit from pole position for race two. However as a result of a timing glitch, which was later corrected, Coronel dropped to eleventh on the grid – where he will start for both races.
Coronel was not informed of the change to the result within the time window to submit a protest, and consequently opted not to participate in the morning warm-up session.
Round 13 takes place at 11:20 WEST (11:20 BST; 12:20 CEST).