Yann Ehrlacher tops second practice as Norbert Michelisz crashes
Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher was the fastest driver in the second free FIA WTCR practice session at Vila Real while BRC Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz ended his session in the barriers.
Ehrlacher set a best lap time of 1:59.300, to beat BRC Motorsport’s Mikel Azcona (Hyundai Elantra N TCR) by just below six tenths of a second.
Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia was third, 0.788 seconds behind his team-mate, continuing a close internal fight of the number one position within the team.
Ma Qing Hua completed another solid session to finish fourth, just ahead of his team-mates Yvan Muller and Thed Björk, the Swede 1.3 seconds behind Ehrlacher.
Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami (Honda Civic Type R TCR) was seventh, ahead of Rob Huff of Zengo Motorsport, and Esteban Guerrieri, 1.5 seconds off the pace.
Comtoyou Racing’s Mehdi Bennani was tenth in a tough session for the Audi RS 3 LMS drivers.
Michelisz led the session in the initial stages, but hit the barriers towards the end of the session and sustained heavy front right suspension damage to his Hyundai Elantra N TCR.
Comtoyou Racing’s Tom Coronel also damaged his Audi RS 3 LMS’ rear suspension in a similar incident at the end of the session.
The FIA WTCR qualifying session at Vila Real is scheduled for 17:05 WEST (CEST -1 hour).
