Vernay and Berthon set identical times to head Zolder pre-season test
Jean-Karl Vernay and Nathanaël Berthon matched each other to the thousandth of a second to share top honours in Thursday’s official World Touring Car Cup test at Zolder.
The two Frenchmen both lapped in 1:36.771 during the afternoon session, bettering Santiago Urrutia’s benchmark from the morning by three tenths of a second.
Ex-WRT Audi man Vernay was drafted in to drive Team Mulsanne’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR ahead of this season, while Berthon returns to the WTCR and Comtoyou Racing after previously contesting the 2018 campaign with the Belgian squad.
Coming up behind the two pace-setters were all four Münnich Motorsport Hondas, but the session was not without drama for the predicted title contenders after lead driver Esteban Guerrieri ran into trouble.
Guerrieri, who finished runner-up in the championship last year, completed just three out laps in the morning session and sat out most of the afternoon too before finally venturing out late on.
Honda have confirmed to TouringCarTimes that a looming issue was plaguing Guerrieri all day, but he ultimately managed at least 17 laps to end the day sixth fastest behind his three team-mates.
Guerrieri was able to gain some crucial track time, however, after taking a few turns behind the wheel of team-mate Attila Tassi’s Civic Type R TCR during the day.
Yann Ehrlacher ended up seventh, recording the fastest time of the day among the Lynk & Co Cyan Racing drivers, ahead of Comtoyou Audi’s Tom Coronel.
It was a low-profile day for the Hyundai teams and reigning champion Norbert Michelisz, meanwhile, the Hungarian going 12th this morning and ninth in the afternoon.
Home hero Gilles Magnus completed the top ten, but was seen driving out onto the track during an early red-flag stoppage. He returned to the pits again and was seen discussing with marshals over the bizarre incident.
Further back, Zengö Motorsport got two of their new CUPRA Leon Competición cars out on track after being forced to sit out the morning completely. Mikel Azcona and Gabor Kismarty-Lechner combined to bring the team’s total tally to 16 laps, while the third car of Bence Boldizs never left the garage.
The test day indicated a potentially ultra-competitive season ahead, with the top four drivers separated by just 0.049 seconds, the top seven by less than two tenths, and the top 14 by just 0.785s.
Friday’s programme sees the first de facto free practice session of the year take place, as WTCR moves into the official race weekend segment for its much-antipated 2020 season-opener.
