Beijing: Monteiro fastest in wet test session

The track was still wet after a rainy night when the test session kicked off in a grey early morning at Goldenport.

The tricky conditions resulted in a few driving mistakes. Tom Coronel spun at T1 and rejoined, scattering gravel on the track. Just after the half of the session, Michael J. Soong spun onto the gravel bed at Turn 13; his SEAT was beached and the red flag was waved. After the session resumed, Yvan Muller spun at T14.

Mehdi Bennani set the pace for most of the testing, improving consistently from 1:20.476 to 1:18.991.

As the track dried up and drivers gained confidence, lap times improved significantly. Muller clocked a new provisional fastest lap of 1:18.573 that was soon bettered by Rob Huff’s 1:18.537. Then José María López pushed the limit even further and was clocked at 1:18.237, before beaking the 1:18. wall on the following lap: 1:17.912.

Huff also improved and moved up to second with a lap of 1:18.233, but Tiago Monteiro had the last word, stopping the clock at 1:17.550 that placed him on top, ahead of López, Huff and Tarquini (1:18.439).

Tom Coronel was the best of the Chevrolet drivers, in eighth position (1:18.907). John Filippi led the TC2T class (1:24.568).