Esteban Guerrieri drove his GOAT Racing Honda Civic to post the fastest lap in the 30-minute Free Practice session that took place in the early morning with freezing temperatures at The Bend.
In the session’s dying seconds, Guerrieri posted a 1:55.0863, demoting his Argentine countryman Néstor Girolami who had clocked 1:55.2222 in his BRC Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra. They were followed by two other Hyundai drivers, Girolami teammate Mikel Azcona (1:55.3150) and HMO Customer Racing’s TCR Australia double champion Josh Buchan who had been the fastest until the final five minutes with a lap of 1:55.5002.
Girolami’s teammate Ignacio Montenegro was classified fifth ahead of HMO’s TCR rookie Ryan MacMillan and Norbert Michelisz.
Aurélien Comte placed his SP Compétition CUPRA Leon VZ in eighth position, 1.18 seconds off the fastest lap, and he was followed by the five-car Lynk & Co contingent with Santiago Urrutia ninth.
Next action will be Qualifying at 9:00am local (1:30am CEST).
Picture: WSC
