Muller leads red flagged Saturday morning practice

Citroen’s Yvan Muller was fastest in Free Practice 1 on Saturday at the Circuito Vila Real, leading team-mate Jose Maria Lopez.

Yvan Muller, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team

Norbert Michelisz, Honda Civic WTCC, Zengo Motorsport

Sébastien Loeb, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team

Jose Maria Lopez, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team

The session was red flagged with nine seconds to go when ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Chilton and Honda’s Gabriele Tarquini came together at the first chicane.

The times were closer than yesterday’s first test session, with the top seven cars all covered by a second. Muller produced the best time of 2:00.749 with just a few minutes left in the session, despite being slower than team-mate Lopez in both of the first two sectors, Muller recovered it all in the final sector.

Before Tarquini and Chilton’s incident, the circuit had produced a few minor scrapes. Nika Racing’s Nestor Girolami had a near miss at the first chicane, locking up in his Honda Civic but managed to stop the car just before the barrier.

ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel also made light contact with the barriers and knocked lose the inner wheel liner in his Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 and was forced to return to the pits.

At the end of the session, Tom Chilton was leisurely braking early at the first corner, with Honda’s Gabriele Tarquini on a quick lap being caught out by the Briton and running into the back of his Chevrolet Cruze.

Chilton was able to return to the pits with damage to the rear while Tarquini’s car needed recovery now having displaced its front splitter.

The two Citroens of Muller and Lopez therefore ended the session on top but were being run close by Honda, with the independent Civic of Norbert Michelisz in third, within two-tenths of a second of Muller.

Citroen drivers Sebastien Loeb and Ma Qing Hua were fourth and fifth, with Honda drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro classified sixth and seventh.

Nestor Girolami was eighth fastest, making his second WTCC appearance of the season with Nika Racing, with Hugo Valente the fastest of the Chevrolet drivers for Campos Racing in ninth.

The Ladas continued to struggle as they did yesterday, with Rob Huff their best-placed driver in 11th, almost two seconds off the pace.

The second practice session is due to take place at 12:00 WEST.

Neil Hudson / TouringCarTimes