Photo: David Noels Photography

René Münnich leads ETCC free practice on a drying track in France

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René Münnich put a late charge in to leave the final practice session of the ETCC this weekend fastest of all in his Honda Civic TCR, finishing ahead of Norbert Nagy’s Zengő SEAT León, with Peter Rikli’s Honda completing the top three.

Münnich, taking part in both ETCC and WTCC this weekend, jumped from his Chevrolet Cruze at the end of the wet WTCC practice into his TCN2 class Honda Civic TCR, and took part in the 45-minute testing session, where the times tumbled as the circuit shifted from damp to dry.

Münnich’s final lap put him just under a tenth of a second ahead of Nagy’s SEAT León Cup Racer, while Rikli was just under four-tenths behind in his also-new Civic TCR.

Pierre Humbert, making a last-minute replacement for Andreas Pfister, was fourth fastest in the SEAT León Cup Racer, while Kris Richard was fifth, meaning all three Hondas finished in the top five.

Macedonian driver Igor Stefanovski was the fastest of the 2016 specificaion SEAT León TCR cars in sixth, just ahead of Kazazh driver Alexandr Artemyev.

In the Super 1600 class, Nicklas Mackschin was fastest of all in his Ravenol Ford Fiesta, just ahead of Kelvin Hilgenhövel’s Peugeot 207 and Ulrike Krafft’s Ford Fiesta.

Qualifying is next for the ETCC at 15:45 CET.