Jorg Muller fastest in first Pau practice

The German led the way as BMWs hit back from a poor showing in Morocco two weeks ago to fill three of the first four places, with Augusto Farfus second quickest and Andy Priaulx fourth.

Reigning champion Yvan Muller was the first of the SEATs and split the BMW trio in third place. SEAT's Gabriele Tarquini was fifth quickest ahead of Alain Menu in the first of the Chevrolets.

The so far dominant diesel-powered Leons did not produce their expected pace with Muller and Tarquini only third and fifth, and Jordi Gene, Tiago Monteiro and Rickard Rydell ending the session in 12th, 13th and 15th place.

Meanwhile, the petrol-powered independent class Leons outpaced three of the factory machines with Marin Colak, Tom Coronel and Tom Boardman seventh, eighth and ninth fastest. Felix Porteiro completed the top 10 in his independent BMW.

Pos Driver               Car         Time          Gap
 1. Jorg Muller          BMW         1m23.522s
 2. Augusto Farfus       BMW         1m23.725s  +0.203
 3. Yvan Muller          SEAT        1m23.746s  +0.224
 4. Andy Priaulx         BMW         1m24.060s  +0.538
 5. Gabriele Tarquini    SEAT        1m24.274s  +0.752
 6. Alain Menu           Chevrolet   1m24.326s  +0.804
 7. Marin Colak          SEAT        1m24.356s  +0.834
 8. Tom Coronel          SEAT        1m24.545s  +1.023
 9. Tom Boardman         SEAT        1m24.576s  +1.054
10. Felix Porteiro       BMW         1m24.631s  +1.109
11. Nicola Larini        Chevrolet   1m24.677s  +1.155
12. Jordi Gene           SEAT        1m24.803s  +1.281
13. Tiago Monteiro       SEAT        1m24.857s  +1.335
14. Sergio Hernandez     BMW         1m24.864s  +1.342
15. Rickard Rydell       SEAT        1m24.870s  +1.348
16. Robert Huff          Chevrolet   1m25.051s  +1.529
17. Franz Engstler       BMW         1m25.091s  +1.569
18. Jaap van Lagen       Lada        1m25.121s  +1.599
19. Mehdi Bennani        SEAT        1m25.267s  +1.745
20. Stefano D'Aste       BMW         1m25.410s  +1.888
21. Eric Cayrolle        SEAT        1m25.597s  +2.075
22. Kristian Poulsen     BMW         1m26.640s  +3.118
23. Kirill Ladygin       Lada        1m26.886s  +3.364
24. Viktor Shapovalov    Lada        1m27.074s  +3.552
25. Laurent Cazenave     BMW         1m27.279s  +3.757
26. Alex Zanardi         BMW         1m31.202s  +7.680