Nicky Catsburg smashes WTCC Nürburgring record in Free Practice 2

Polestar Cyan Racing’s Nicky Catsburg broke the World Touring Car Championship lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the second free practice session, lapping the circuit with a time of 8:34.813, over half a second faster than José María López’s qualifiying record from last year.

The Dutchman set his time after the chequered flag fell on his final run, demoting Honda’s Norbert Michelisz, who had only just gone fastest with a time of 8:37.201, in turn having demoted the Münnich Citroën of Rob Huff, who’d been on the top of the time sheet for most of the last half an hour of the session.

Catsburg had set the first benchmark early in the session, with no further improvements possible until the half-way point while the ETCC Audi RS 3 of Plamen Kralev was rescued, after stopping at the exit of Schwalbenschwanz.

Behind Catsburg, Michelisz and Huff, all of whom have now led a session, was Volvo’s Thed Björk in fourth, with Esteban Guerrieri fifth fastest after setting a competitive lap in the Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze.

Championship leader Tiago Monteiro was a conservative sixth, with Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton seventh, personally delighted with his time set on old tyres in the Citroën C-Elysée WTCC.

Néstor Girolami was eighth fastest in the Volvo ahead of Tom Coronel’s Chevrolet in ninth, with the SLR Citroën of Mehdi Bennani completing the top ten.

Unlike yesterday, there were no signs of punctures during the 60-minute session. The only drama was traffic, with a number of the WTCC’s TC1 drivers getting caught behind some of the TCR-specification ETCC cars at awkward points on their quickest laps.

Qualifying is next for the WTCC, with a 40-minute session at 12:45 CET.