PRACTICE 1 - LÓPEZ TOPS TIMES ONCE AGAIN
Local hero José María López offered another show of strength during this morning’s first practice session at Termas de Río Hondo.
Local hero José María López offered another show of strength during this morning’s first practice session at Termas de Río Hondo.
The Argentine driver was consistently the fastest and eventually topped the time sheet with a lap of 1:43.889, leaving his Citroën team-mate Sébastien Loeb (1:44.149) more than two tenths behind.
Loeb commented: “We tried to perform the scheduled working plan, trying different set-up solutions, but it’s difficult to get a clear idea because the track is still very green and conditions keep changing, making it difficult to find reliable parameters. Still, the car feels good.”Mehdi Bennani created a surprise in the Proteam Honda Civic car, posting the third fastest lap (1:44.288), four tenths off the leader’s pace. The Moroccan beat Yvan Muller by one hundredth of a second, demoting him to fourth.
“It’s a good start. It seems the circuit suits well the Honda cars. I think the chassis characteristics of the Civic make the car quite agile on this track, and that despite the long straight, we are not too penalized in top speed. Third-fastest is a good result, especially on used tires and not having the latest spec updates that the works Honda cars have, so I am happy,” said Bennani.
The Honda Castrol duo of Gabriele Tarquini (1:44.528) and Tiago Monteiro (1:44.719) ranked fifth and seventh respectively, as they were split by the Zengö Motorsport Civic of Norbert Michelisz (1:44.675).
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Chilton was the fastest of the Chevrolet RML drivers in eighth position (1:45.259), ahead of Hugo Valente (1:45.302) and the first LADA Granta of Rob Huff (1:45.541).
Franz Engstler set the fastest lap in the TC2T class (1:50.133), one-and-a-half second faster than John Filippi. Engstler’s team-mate Camilo Echevarría was not able to post any significant lap time due to a turbocharger failure.
The Argentine driver was consistently the fastest and eventually topped the time sheet with a lap of 1:43.889, leaving his Citroën team-mate Sébastien Loeb (1:44.149) more than two tenths behind.
Loeb commented: “We tried to perform the scheduled working plan, trying different set-up solutions, but it’s difficult to get a clear idea because the track is still very green and conditions keep changing, making it difficult to find reliable parameters. Still, the car feels good.”Mehdi Bennani created a surprise in the Proteam Honda Civic car, posting the third fastest lap (1:44.288), four tenths off the leader’s pace. The Moroccan beat Yvan Muller by one hundredth of a second, demoting him to fourth.
“It’s a good start. It seems the circuit suits well the Honda cars. I think the chassis characteristics of the Civic make the car quite agile on this track, and that despite the long straight, we are not too penalized in top speed. Third-fastest is a good result, especially on used tires and not having the latest spec updates that the works Honda cars have, so I am happy,” said Bennani.
The Honda Castrol duo of Gabriele Tarquini (1:44.528) and Tiago Monteiro (1:44.719) ranked fifth and seventh respectively, as they were split by the Zengö Motorsport Civic of Norbert Michelisz (1:44.675).
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Chilton was the fastest of the Chevrolet RML drivers in eighth position (1:45.259), ahead of Hugo Valente (1:45.302) and the first LADA Granta of Rob Huff (1:45.541).
Franz Engstler set the fastest lap in the TC2T class (1:50.133), one-and-a-half second faster than John Filippi. Engstler’s team-mate Camilo Echevarría was not able to post any significant lap time due to a turbocharger failure.
PRACTICE 2 – THE FIELD GETS CLOSER
Although Yvan Muller and José María López have placed their Citroën cars on top, the second free practice session saw the eight fastest drivers covered by only half second.
Halfway through the session, Muller posted the fastest lap for good, stopping the clock at 1:44.214 that was only four hundredths of a second faster than López’s 1:44.244. The Argentine tried to improve, but spoiled his chances by driving wide in one of the corners.
Behind the Citroën duo, Tom Chilton posted the third fastest lap (1:44.285) in his ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze, demoting Sébastien Loeb to fourth (1:44.364). Chilton said: “We changed everything in the car and it worked well! The behavior is completely different, the car is very good in the corners and consistent throughout the entire lap. I am very happy and now that things are much better, I’m starting to enjoy the track.”Gabriele Tarquini (1:44.472) and Tiago Monteiro (1:44.525) were the best Honda drivers in fifth and sixth, with gaps 0.258 and 0.311 respectively. Hugo Valente (1:44.647) and Norbert Michelisz (1:44.737) lied only one and two further tenths behind.
Rob Huff drove his LADA Granta to the ninth fastest lap (1:44.981); and his gap of seven tenths was the smallest for the Russian car so far in the season. Mikhail Kozlovskiy explained: “We are closing the gap and this is positive. I was in the top-ten for most of the session, despite being without my sixth gear. There are still a number of things to improve to get the right set-up, but it seems the LADA is enjoying low grip conditions like we have here.” Tom Coronel completed only four laps before the turbocharged blew and forced him to the pit.
In the TC2T class, Franz Engstler posted the fastest lap once again (1:50.781), but John Filippi managed to close the gap to five tenths. Argentina’s newcomer Camilo Echevarría is still struggling with mechanical problems on his BMW car.
Behind the Citroën duo, Tom Chilton posted the third fastest lap (1:44.285) in his ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze, demoting Sébastien Loeb to fourth (1:44.364). Chilton said: “We changed everything in the car and it worked well! The behavior is completely different, the car is very good in the corners and consistent throughout the entire lap. I am very happy and now that things are much better, I’m starting to enjoy the track.”Gabriele Tarquini (1:44.472) and Tiago Monteiro (1:44.525) were the best Honda drivers in fifth and sixth, with gaps 0.258 and 0.311 respectively. Hugo Valente (1:44.647) and Norbert Michelisz (1:44.737) lied only one and two further tenths behind.
Rob Huff drove his LADA Granta to the ninth fastest lap (1:44.981); and his gap of seven tenths was the smallest for the Russian car so far in the season. Mikhail Kozlovskiy explained: “We are closing the gap and this is positive. I was in the top-ten for most of the session, despite being without my sixth gear. There are still a number of things to improve to get the right set-up, but it seems the LADA is enjoying low grip conditions like we have here.” Tom Coronel completed only four laps before the turbocharged blew and forced him to the pit.
In the TC2T class, Franz Engstler posted the fastest lap once again (1:50.781), but John Filippi managed to close the gap to five tenths. Argentina’s newcomer Camilo Echevarría is still struggling with mechanical problems on his BMW car.
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