Alain Menu tops opening test at Suzuka
Alain Menu topped the opening test session at Suzuka, edging out the Polestar Volvo of Robert Dahlgren in the final minutes
Dahlgren had been the first driver to dip under the 54s barrier, going more than 0.3s clear of the field with five minutes to go.
Chevrolet still had a set of fresh rubber to use however, and it paid dividends as Alain Menu made full use to lower the benchmark to 53.608s with two minutes remaining.
Robert Huff was also on fresh rubber but couldn't match Menu or Dahlgren, eventually finishing the session in third.
His title rival and Chevrolet team-mate Yvan Muller finished fifth, the duo separated by the SUNRED SEAT of Tiago Monteiro. Monteiro had been fastest in the opening stages, before a red flag caused a temporary halt in proceedings.
Tom Coronel finished sixth fastest in the ROAL BMW, ahead of Gabriele Tarquini (SUNRED SEAT) and rally star Toshi Arai, making his WTCC debut in a fourth works Chevrolet this weekend.
Colin Turkington, making his WTCC return with BMW squad Wiechers-Sport, finished tenth fastest behind Darryl O'Young in the Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze.
Hiroki Yoshimoto, making his WTCC debut with the SUNRED SEAT squad, finished 14th, while fellow debutant Charles Ng (Engstler BMW) was 22nd of the 24 runners.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Alain Menu Chevrolet 53.608s 2. Robert Dahlgren Polestar Volvo 53.722s + 0.114s 3. Rob Huff Chevrolet 53.861s + 0.253s 4. Tiago Monteiro SUNRED SEAT 54.177s + 0.569s 5. Yvan Muller Chevrolet 54.200s + 0.592s 6. Tom Coronel ROAL BMW 54.409s + 0.801s 7. Gabriele Tarquini SUNRED SEAT 54.448s + 0.840s 8. Toshihiro Arai Chevrolet 54.479s + 0.871s 9. Darryl O'Young Bamboo Chevrolet 54.615s + 1.007s 10. Colin Turkington Wiechers BMW 54.643s + 1.035s 11. Michel Nykjaer SUNRED SEAT 54.721s + 1.113s 12. Javier Villa Proteam BMW 54.750s + 1.142s 13. Kristian Poulsen Engstler BMW 54.830s + 1.222s 14. Hiroki Yoshimoto SUNRED SEAT 55.026s + 1.418s 15. Norbert Michelisz Zengo BMW 55.036s + 1.428s 16. Yukinori Taniguchi Bamboo Chevrolet 55.067s + 1.459s 17. Mehdi Bennani Proteam BMW 55.068s + 1.460s 18. Fredy Barth SUNRED SEAT 55.354s + 1.746s 19. Franz Engstler Engstler BMW 55.403s + 1.795s 20. Aleksei Dudukalo SUNRED SEAT 55.636s + 2.028s 21. Masaki Kano KK BMW 56.158s + 2.550s 22. Charles Ng Engstler BMW 56.567s + 2.959s 23. Pepe Oriola SUNRED SEAT 56.906s + 3.298s 24. Fabio Fabiani Proteam BMW 59.847s + 6.239s
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