Michelisz fastest in Marrakech test

The Hungarian, who impressed at the season-opening races in Brazil in March in his Zengo-Dension SEAT Leon TDi, knocked Tom Coronel off the time of the timesheet in the last five minutes.

Coronel's early effort of the streets of Marrakech earned him the top spot for the majority of the half hour, before a red flag stoppage caused by local driver Ismail Sbai.

When the session restarted with seven minutes left, a flurry of improvements including Michelisz's time, shook up the order.

Rob Huff and Augusto Farfus jumped to third and fourth places, ahead of Jordi Gene and Yvan Muller.

Reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini was seventh quickest, with Alain Menu, Andy Priaulx and rookie Fredy Barth completing the top 10.

Pos Driver                  Car            Time       Gap      Laps
 1. Norbert Michelisz       SEAT           1m49.347s             13
 2. Tom Coronel             SEAT           1m49.446s  +0.099     10
 3. Rob Huff                Chevrolet      1m49.505s  +0.158     12
 4. Augusto Farfus          BMW            1m49.525s  +0.178     14
 5. Jordi Gene              SEAT           1m49.734s  +0.387     10
 6. Yvan Muller             Chevrolet      1m49.885s  +0.538     10
 7. Gabriele Tarquini       SEAT           1m49.949s  +0.602     13
 8. Alain Menu              Chevrolet      1m50.421s  +1.074     10
 9. Andy Priaulx            BMW            1m50.620s  +1.273     14
10. Fredy Barth             SEAT           1m50.770s  +1.423     11
11. Franz Engstler          BMW            1m50.880s  +1.533     11
12. Tiago Monteiro          SEAT           1m51.058s  +1.711      9
13. Michel Nykjaer          SEAT           1m51.350s  +2.003      8
14. Sergio Hernandez        BMW            1m52.078s  +2.731     10
15. Stefano D'Aste          BMW            1m52.132s  +2.785     12
16. Mehdi Bennani           BMW            1m52.341s  +2.994     15
17. Darryl O'Young          Chevrolet      1m53.972s  +4.625     12
18. Harry Vaulkhard         Chevrolet      1m54.480s  +5.133      8
19. Youssaf El-Marnissi     Chevrolet      1m56.310s  +6.963      7
20. Andrei Romanov          BMW            1m56.849s  +7.502     14
21. Ismail Sbai             Chevrolet      2m13.611s +24.264      3