Slovakia Ring, FP2: Muller goes quickest

Yvan Muller underlined his FIA World Touring Car Championship title credentials by topping Free Practice 2 for WTCC Race of Slovakia.

Muller outpaced Citroën Total WTCC team-mate and defending champion José María López by 0.111s following set-up changes prior to the 30-minute session, which was interrupted by a red flag before rain in the closing moments left parts of the track damp and slippery.

Last year’s Slovakia winner Sébastien Loeb was third quickest to make it an all-Citroën top-three with Hugo Valente (Chevrolet Cruze) the top Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy contender in fourth overall.

“In the beginning of the session the track was much the same as in FP1 but in the last five minutes the rain was coming,” said Muller, the four-time WTCC champion who is 35 points behind López in the championship race. “We still had some small problems but the car felt better than the first session. The target now is to take care of the small problem.”

LADA pair Rob Huff and Nicky Catsburg were fifth and sixth respectively with Mehdi Bennani seventh, Toms Chilton and Coronel eighth and ninth and Gabriele Tarquini the leading Honda runner in 10th.

The session was momentarily halted when Grégoire Demoustier crashed his Craft-Bamboo Racing Chevrolet. Stefano D’Aste also went off earlier in the running, damaging the front splitter of his ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet.

Free Practice 2 gave drivers and their teams a final opportunity to try out set-up for Qualifying, which begins at 15h00 local and could be subjected to further changeable weather conditions based on current forecasts.