Monza WTCC: Yvan Muller fastest in first practice of 2013
Yvan Muller delivered a blistering last-gasp salvo to deny Honda top spot in the opening practice session of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship at Monza
The Frenchman, once again in an RML-run Chevrolet Cruze, had dominated much of the session but was knocked from the top spot when Tiago Monteiro went clear with two minutes to run.
Muller had time to respond, and time in hand, though. With 30 seconds on the clock he came round in a 1m58.078s to restore a comfortable margin at the top of the timesheets.
While that has been a familiar trait in recent seasons, the order behind him was markedly different.
Honda had two men in the top five, with Monteiro finishing second - seven tenths down on Muller - and Tarquini fifth. Both men elected to run on their own, rather than go for the benefit of a slipstream tow, for the majority of the 30 minutes.
They were separated by the SEAT Leon of Pepe Oriola and the second RML Cruze of Tom Chilton, who was just over two hundredths of a second slower than Monteiro in second.
Defending champion Rob Huff finished 10th fastest for new team Munnich Motorsport, while James Thompson went seventh fastest for Lada.
Tom Coronel meanwhile made it five different manufacturers in the top 10 by going ninth fastest in his ROAL BMW, some 1.6s down on Muller.
Bamboo's Alex MacDowall took Yokohama Trophy class honours in sixth, fractions ahead of Thompson, with class rival and fellow Chevrolet driver Michel Nykjaer eighth.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Yvan Muller RML Chevrolet 1m58.078s 2. Tiago Monteiro Honda 1m58.790s + 0.712s 3. Pepe Oriola Tuenti SEAT 1m58.791s + 0.713s 4. Tom Chilton RML Chevrolet 1m58.812s + 0.734s 5. Gabriele Tarquini Honda 1m59.007s + 0.929s 6. Alex MacDowall Bamboo Chevrolet 1m59.143s + 1.065s 7. James Thompson Lada 1m59.308s + 1.230s 8. Michel Nykjaer NIKA Chevrolet 1m59.641s + 1.563s 9. Tom Coronel ROAL BMW 1m59.701s + 1.623s 10. Rob Huff Munnich SEAT 1m59.873s + 1.795s 11. Franz Engstler Engstler BMW 1m59.976s + 1.898s 12. Darryl O'Young ROAL BMW 2m00.037s + 1.959s 13. James Nash Bamboo Chevrolet 2m00.057s + 1.979s 14. Tom Boardman Special Tuning SEAT 2m00.131s + 2.053s 15. Marc Basseng Munnich SEAT 2m00.197s + 2.119s 16. Mehdi Bennani Proteam BMW 2m00.415s + 2.337s 17. Stefano d'Aste PB BMW 2m00.589s + 2.511s 18. Fredy Barth Wiechers BMW 2m00.947s + 2.869s 19. Jean-Philippe Dayraut Anome BMW 2m00.980s + 2.902s 20. Aleksei Dudukalo Lada 2m01.007s + 2.929s 21. Charles Ng Engstler BMW 2m01.921s + 3.843s 22. Rene Munnich Munnich SEAT 2m02.332s + 4.254s 23. Norbert Michelisz Zengo Honda 2m02.522s + 4.444s 24. Fernando Monje Campos SEAT
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