Rob Huff tops close TCR World Tour practice at Vallelunga

Comtoyou Racing’s Rob Huff was fastest in the first practice session for the TCR Italian Festival at Vallelunga, which is the third round of the new TCR World Tour.

A brief off into the gravel at the fifth corner for BRC Racing’s Mikel Azcona was the most dramatic moment of the session, although there was tension over at the SP Compétition team as Aurélien Comte was only on track for a short while before returning to the pits and having a computer plugged into his Cupra Leon Competición.

ALM Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami and Aggressive Team Italia’s Kevin Ceccon were the first two drivers on the track, and the pace they set was beaten after ten minutes by Comtoyou’s Frédéric Vervisch.

It was super close among the lead group, with Vervisch only fastest by 0.002 seconds over BRC Racing’s Norbert Michelisz and with Azcona a further 0.035s behind in third.

Comtoyou Racing’s Frederic Vervisch was just 0.077s off the pace in fourth, and soon moved up to second as Huff set a new benchmark of 1:40.524.

There were few improvements in the session’s second half, with Björk finding a gain of 0.009s and remaining in second while team-mate Yann Ehrlacher went from sixth to third by setting a 1:40.675s with five minutes to go.

Vervisch, Michelisz, Azcona and Girolami filled the next places, and the top ten was completed by Lynk & Co pair Ma Qing Hua and Santiago Urrutia and then Comte.

The second practice session at Vallelunga starts at 09:05 CEST on Saturday.