Farfus sets the pace in Monza test

Both hour-long sessions took place on a wet track, with rain hitting the Italian circuit for a big part of the day.

Brazilian Farfus was fastest overall after setting a best time of 2:11.498 in the dying moments of the first session, which took place in damp conditions.

The Alfa driver outpaced current WTCC champion Andy Priaulx by nearly eight tenths of a second, with Farfus' teammate Gianni Morbidelli in third.

Rickard Rydell was the quickest of the SEAT drivers with the fifth fastest time of the day.

The Spanish manufacturer, aiming for the title this season with a line-up full of big names, finished off the top of the times, with James Thompson down in 10th and Gabriele Tarquini in 15th.

Alain Menu was the fastest Chevrolet driver in eighth, in a session where a total of 34 drivers took to the track.

Testing at Monza continues today.

Pos Driver                Make        Time     
 1. Augusto Farfus        Alfa Romeo  2:11.498
 2. Andy Priaulx          BMW         2:12.241
 3. Gianni Morbidelli     Alfa Romeo  2:12.291
 4. Salvatore Tavano      Alfa Romeo  2:12.594
 5. Rickard Rydell        SEAT        2:12.770
 6. Jorg Muller           BMW         2:12.835
 7. Dirk Muller           BMW         2:13.178
 8. Alain Menu            Chevrolet   2:13.432
 9. Robert Huff           Chevrolet   2:13.436
10. James Thompson        SEAT        2:13.447
11. Riccardo Romagnoli    Alfa Romeo  2:13.966
12. Adriano De Micheli    Alfa Romeo  2:14.006
13. Roberto Colciago      Honda       2:14.013
14. Stefano D'Aste        BMW         2:14.122
15. Gabriele Tarquini     SEAT        2:14.256
16. Alessandro Balzan     Alfa Romeo  2:14.289
17. Peter Terting         SEAT        2:14.530
18. Gianni Calabrese      SEAT        2:14.705
19. Nicola Larini         Chevrolet   2:14.764
20. Jordi Gene            SEAT        2:14.967
21. Marcel Costa          BMW         2:15.077
22. Maurizio Ceresoli     SEAT        2:15.154
23. Stefano Valli         BMW         2:15.415
24. Yvan Muller           SEAT        2:15.433
25. Luca Rangoni          BMW         2:15.544
26. Alessandro Zanardi    BMW         2:15.726
27. Jiri Janak            Alfa Romeo  2:15.776
28. Jens Edman            Peugeot     2:15.922
29. Pierre-Yves Corthals  Honda       2:16.597
30. Simone Iacone         BMW         2:16.785
31. Emmet O'Brien         BMW         2:19.122
32. Diego Romanini        BMW         2:19.851
33. Davide Roda           SEAT        2:20.003
34. Emanuele Naspetti     BMW         2:20.057

All Timing Unofficial