Monteiro on top in morning practice

Tiago Monteiro (1:44.492) led the way posting the fastest time of first practice in Zolder on his final lap of the session on a drying track, 0.093 and 0.389 seconds ahead of SR-Sport teammates Tom Coronel (1:44.585) and Jordi Gené (1:44.881) respectively.

A damp track due to a mixture of early morning sunshine and showers, made it quite difficult to judge the track conditions as WTCC first practice began. Several drivers found themselves sideways across the kerbs and running through the gravel as they pushed their cars to the limit during the 30-minute session.

As a dry line appeared the times began to fall with yesterday’s quickest man, Augusto Farfus ending fourth (1:44.941) while BMW Team RBM teammate Andy Priaulx and Scuderia Proteam Motorsport’s Stefano D’Aste both received black flags for not respecting the track limits.

Switzerland’s Fredy Barth (1:45.116) was top rookie in fifth ahead of SR-Sport’s Gabriele Tarquini (1:45.456). Chevrolet’s Alain Menu (1:45.534) was seventh with current championship leader Yvan Muller (1:45.712) eighth. German racer Franz Engstler (1:45.919) was best of the Independents in his BMW 320si and, despite a couple of trips through the gravel traps, Sergio Hernández (1:45.966) rounded out the top ten.

Belgium’s Pierre-Yves Corthals (1:46.159) finished 12th while fellow countryman Vincent Radermecker (1:50.170) finished the session 21st after briefly setting the pace during the early stages.