Paul Ricard, FP1 : Muller mighty in WTCC Free Practice 1

Lopez 2nd, Monteiro 3rd

By Franck Drui

27 June 2015 - 10:07
Paul Ricard, FP1 : Muller mighty (...)

Yvan Muller has given home fans plenty of reason to cheer by posting the fastest time in Free Practice 1 for JVC KENWOOD WTCC Race of France this morning.

The four-time winner of the FIA World Touring Car Championship lapped 3.841-kilometre Circuit Paul Ricard in 1m30.950 to edge Citroën team-mate and defending world champion José María López by 0.209s.

“We learn many things even if the session was only 30 minutes long,” said Muller. “Yesterday we were not happy with the car, we resolve some of the problems of yesterday but we still have another step to do. At the moment the heat is okay but it’s only Free Practice. Qualifying will be another story because it’s later in the afternoon and it will be much warmer. We change many things with the car, some small details to the suspension but I cannot say what.”

Tiago Monteiro was third quickest for Honda with Sébastien Loeb fourth for Citroën with Gabriele Tarquini fifth and Grégoire Demoustier (Chevrolet Cruze) impressing as the top Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy contender in sixth. Ma Qing Hua was seventh with Nicky Catsburg the top LADA runner in eighth. Norbert Michelisz and Hugo Valente rounded out the top 10.

Pos. Driver Team Car Time
1 Yvan Muller Citroen Total WTCC Citroen 1:30.950
2 Jose Maria Lopez Citroen Total WTCC Citroen 1:31.159
3 Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda 1:31.187
4 Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WTCC Citroen 1:31.252
5 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Racing Team JAS Honda 1:31.258
6 Grégoire Demoustier Craft-Bamboo Racing Chevrolet 1:31.348
7 Ma Qing Hua Citroen Total WTCC Citroen 1:31.441
8 Nicky Catsburg LADA Sport Rosneft Lada 1:31.516
9 Norbert Michelisz Zengo Motorsport Honda 1:31.689
10 Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet 1:31.690
11 Stefano D’Aste Munnich Motorsport Chevrolet 1:31.698
12 Jaap Van Lagen LADA Sport Rosneft Lada 1:31.762
13 Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet 1:31.841
14 Robert Huff LADA Sport Rosneft Lada 1:31.973
15 Rickard Rydell Nika International Honda 1:32.251
16 Mehdi Bennani Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen 1:32.318
17 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet 1:32.409
18 John Filippi Campos Racing Chevrolet 1:33.012

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