Moscow WTCC: Rob Huff's Lada and Gabriele Tarquini's Honda set pace
Gabriele Tarquini and Rob Huff set the pace in the two free practice sessions for the World Touring Car Championship round at Moscow Raceway
After topping Friday's test session, Honda driver Tarquini then set the pace in the first free practice session with a best time of 1m39.036.
Citroen drivers Jose Maria Lopez and Yvan Muller both trailed him by around a tenth and a half, and were separated from each other by just nine thousandths of a second.
Sebastien Loeb was fourth ahead of Tarquini's team-mate Tiago Monteiro and Huff, the best of the Ladas at the Russian marque's home circuit.
Huff then claimed the honours in second practice with a late lap of 1m38.853s to pip session-long leader Muller by 0.043s.
Lopez was three tenths back in third, just ahead of ROAL Chevrolet driver Tom Chilton, while Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen racer Mehdi Bennani and Campos Chevrolet man Hugo Valente rounded out the top six.
Making his WTCC debut for Lada this weekend, Dutchman Nicky Catsburg was seventh in the second session.
He was followed by Rickard Rydell, who returns with the Nika Honda team after missing the past three rounds with illness.
PRACTICE ONE:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriele Tarquini | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1m39.036s | - | 9 |
| 2 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m39.185s | 0.149s | 12 |
| 3 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m39.194s | 0.158s | 13 |
| 4 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m39.559s | 0.523s | 13 |
| 5 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1m39.722s | 0.686s | 11 |
| 6 | Rob Huff | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m39.740s | 0.704s | 9 |
| 7 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m39.977s | 0.941s | 10 |
| 8 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m39.983s | 0.947s | 9 |
| 9 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 1m40.011s | 0.975s | 13 |
| 10 | Ma Qinghua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m40.214s | 1.178s | 13 |
| 11 | Jaap van Lagen | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m40.332s | 1.296s | 13 |
| 12 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1m40.542s | 1.506s | 13 |
| 13 | Rickard Rydell | Nika International | Honda | 1m40.647s | 1.611s | 14 |
| 14 | Stefano D'Aste | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m40.713s | 1.677s | 14 |
| 15 | Gregoire Demoustier | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet | 1m40.816s | 1.780s | 14 |
| 16 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m40.868s | 1.832s | 11 |
| 17 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m40.986s | 1.950s | 15 |
| 18 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m41.625s | 2.589s | 11 |
PRACTICE TWO:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rob Huff | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m38.853s | - | 15 |
| 2 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m38.896s | 0.043s | 12 |
| 3 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m39.226s | 0.373s | 10 |
| 4 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m39.254s | 0.401s | 11 |
| 5 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1m39.396s | 0.543s | 13 |
| 6 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m39.483s | 0.630s | 11 |
| 7 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m39.623s | 0.770s | 13 |
| 8 | Rickard Rydell | Nika International | Honda | 1m39.650s | 0.797s | 13 |
| 9 | Ma Qinghua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m39.728s | 0.875s | 13 |
| 10 | Gabriele Tarquini | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1m39.792s | 0.939s | 14 |
| 11 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m39.912s | 1.059s | 12 |
| 12 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 1m40.008s | 1.155s | 11 |
| 13 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1m40.024s | 1.171s | 11 |
| 14 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m40.369s | 1.516s | 10 |
| 15 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m40.437s | 1.584s | 12 |
| 16 | Jaap van Lagen | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m40.714s | 1.861s | 13 |
| 17 | Stefano D'Aste | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m40.961s | 2.108s | 11 |
| 18 | Gregoire Demoustier | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet | 1m41.273s | 2.420s | 12 |
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