BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse drivers Néstor Girolami and Mikel Azcona topped the two free practice sessions at the Vallelunga circuit in their Elantra N cars, with Girolami going slightly faster in the cooler morning session, while his Spanish teammate was the quickest driver in the final practice session later in the afternoon.
Girolami’s time of 1:39.933 was just over two-hundredths of second faster than Lynk & Co Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia in the first session, with Volcano Motorsport Audi driver John Filippi a further two-thousandths behind in third.
At the end of the session, after setting the fourth fastest time, GOAT Racing Honda’s Esteban Guerrieri hit the barriers at Turn 10 and suffered minor damage to the front of his Civic Type R FL5.
In the second session, the second GOAT Racing Honda of Marco Butti led throughout most of the session, before times began to tumble in the last five minutes, with first Filippi taking over at the top in his Audi before Azcona went just 0.026 seconds faster to ensure Hyundai led both sessions, with the Spaniard’s best time of 1:40.114 just under two-tenths slower than the morning practice pace.
On his final lap, Lynk & Co Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher went third quickest just over a tenth down on his final lap, with Butti ending the session fourth fastest, ensuring all four marques were represented in the top four.
The next session for the KUMHO FIA TCR World Tour is qualifying at 11:10 CEST on Saturday morning.
Picture: WSC/Fastclick
