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Russia, FP2: Monteiro back on top in wet WTCC session

"It was a good session for us"

By Franck Drui

11 June 2016 - 11:20

Tiago Monteiro returned to the head of the field in Free Practice 2 for FIA WTCC ROSNEFT Race of Russia, which took place on a damp Moscow Raceway.

Conditions did improve during the session and Monteiro set his benchmark of 1m55.309s on his final lap of the 3.931-kilometre layout.

As in the dry, it was Honda and LADA competing over the top positions. Monteiro’s Honda team-mates Norbert Michelisz and Rob Huff were second and fourth, with LADA drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Hugo Valente third and fifth.

“It was a good session for us and the car was feeling good in the damp or dry,” said Monteiro. “We should be in good shape no matter if it’s dry or damp in Qualifying. If it’s wet it will be an unknown quantity but the car felt good, the balance was good and we’re feeling positive.”

Best among the WTCC Trophy drivers, James Thompson took sixth on his latest appearance in the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet, ahead of Yvan Muller and Mehdi Bennani in the best of the Citroëns. Ferenc Ficza was ninth for Zengő Motorsport in front of the world championship leader José María López.

The teams now have two hours to prepare for Qualifying at 14h00 local time.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Car	Time
1	Tiago Monteiro	Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda	1:55.309
2	Norbert Michelisz	Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda	1:55.566
3	Gabriele Tarquini	LADA Sport	Lada	1:55.579
4	Rob Huff	Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda	1:55.959
5	Hugo Valente	LADA Sport	Lada	1:56.403
6	James Thompson	Munnich Motorsport	Chevrolet	1:56.470
7	Yvan Muller	Citroen Total WTCC	Citroen	1:56.908
8	Mehdi Bennani	Sebastien Loeb Racing	Citroen	1:57.354
9	Ferenc Ficza	Zengo	Honda	1:57.444
10	Jose Maria Lopez	Citroen Total WTCC	Citroen	1:57.478
11	Nicky Catsburg	LADA Sport	Lada	1:57.759
12	John Filippi	Campos Racing	Chevrolet	1:58.082
13	Thed Bjork	Polestar Cyan	Volvo	1:58.086
14	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	Chevrolet	1:58.601
15	Grégoire Demoustier	Sebastien Loeb Racing	Citroen	1:58.800
16	Tom Chilton	Sebastien Loeb Racing	Citroen	1:59.134
17	Fredrik Ekblom	Polestar Cyan	Volvo	2:00.068