Nordschleife, FP2 : López leads damp session

Free Practice 2 for the FIA WTCC Race of Germany took place in tricky conditions on a damp but drying Nürburgring Nordschleife, with José María López setting the best time.

Times came down throughout the one-hour session as the conditions improved and the order changed rapidly at the end of the session, with López being pushed down from first to 11th before reclaiming top spot at the chequered flag. His time of 9m41.561s was almost a minute slower than his benchmark in the dry Free Practice 1.

LADA drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Hugo Valente followed López across the line for second and third respectively. The team’s third driver Nicky Catsburg was also inside the top five, behind the top Honda representative Norbert Michelisz.

Yvan Muller took sixth in the second factory Citroën, just ahead of the Sébastien Loeb Racing-run version of Tom Chilton, who led the way in the WTCC Trophy once again. His team-mates Mehdi Bennani and Grégoire Demoustier rounded out the top 10 behind Tiago Monteiro.

After Honda worked overnight to repair his car following his crash at the end of Free Practice 1, Rob Huff again ended a session in the barriers, this time in a much lighter impact at Turn 1, proving that even the grand prix loop is slippery when wet. ‘Queen of the Ring’ Sabine Schmitz was also caught out by the tricky conditions, damaging her ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet in an early off into the gravel trap at Aremberg.

Qualifying is next up for the WTCC drivers at 12h45 local time.