Motegi WTCC: Gabriele Tarquini's Honda completes practice sweep
Honda began its home World Touring Car Championship round at Motegi by topping all three practice sessions, with Gabriele Tarquini setting the pace throughout
The Italian had been quickest in Friday's test, and repeated the feat in both Saturday morning sessions in the factory Civic, setting a best time of 1m56.968s.
Honda's success spread beyond Tarquini, enjoying a one-two in Saturday's opener with Zengo driver Norbert Michelisz placing second.
There was almost a clean sweep of the top three for Honda, but Citroen's Sebastien Loeb managed to head the second factory Honda of Tiago Monteiro for third.
Loeb would repeat the trick of denying Honda dominance by beating Monteiro again in the following session, placing second ahead of the Portuguese driver and Michelisz.
The Frenchman was the best of the Citroens throughout the practices with Yvan Muller the next best Citroen in fifth after the first session, before Ma Qing Hua was second to Loeb within the team in sixth later on.
Championship leader Jose Maria Lopez was on the outskirts of the top 10, taking eighth and 10th.
None of the Chevrolets got into the top 10 in practice one, but they improved in the second session, with Tom Coronel impressing to take fifth, some way ahead of Hugo Valente and Tom Chilton in eighth and ninth.
Nicky Catsburg had the best running from the Lada trio with a seventh and 10th, but Rob Huff's ninth was followed by a mechanical problem in the second that meant he finished a lowly 17th.
Day two of their new team-mate Nicolas Lapierre's first touring car weekend began with a best finish of 11th.
The Motegi practices were preceded by the shaking after-effects of an earthquake in Tokyo, but it didn't impact running.
PRACTICE ONE TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriele Tarquini | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1m57.127s | - | 9 |
| 2 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 1m57.765s | 0.638s | 8 |
| 3 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m57.988s | 0.861s | 9 |
| 4 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1m58.074s | 0.947s | 7 |
| 5 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m58.228s | 1.101s | 7 |
| 6 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1m58.308s | 1.181s | 10 |
| 7 | Ma Qinghua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m58.419s | 1.292s | 10 |
| 8 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m58.626s | 1.499s | 6 |
| 9 | Rob Huff | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m58.716s | 1.589s | 7 |
| 10 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m58.720s | 1.593s | 8 |
| 11 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m58.795s | 1.668s | 8 |
| 12 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m58.883s | 1.756s | 9 |
| 13 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m59.236s | 2.109s | 9 |
| 14 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m59.549s | 2.422s | 9 |
| 15 | Stefano D'Aste | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m59.720s | 2.593s | 10 |
| 16 | Nicolas Lapierre | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m59.819s | 2.692s | 8 |
| 17 | Gregoire Demoustier | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet | 2m00.293s | 3.166s | 7 |
PRACTICE TWO TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriele Tarquini | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1m56.968s | - | 13 |
| 2 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m57.262s | 0.294s | 10 |
| 3 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1m57.425s | 0.457s | 10 |
| 4 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 1m57.434s | 0.466s | 11 |
| 5 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m57.525s | 0.557s | 10 |
| 6 | Ma Qinghua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m57.652s | 0.684s | 12 |
| 7 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m57.708s | 0.740s | 11 |
| 8 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m57.798s | 0.830s | 10 |
| 9 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m57.944s | 0.976s | 9 |
| 10 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m58.195s | 1.227s | 9 |
| 11 | Nicolas Lapierre | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1m58.332s | 1.364s | 12 |
| 12 | Stefano D'Aste | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m58.333s | 1.365s | 12 |
| 13 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1m58.430s | 1.462s | 11 |
| 14 | Gregoire Demoustier | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet | 1m58.578s | 1.610s | 11 |
| 15 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m58.702s | 1.734s | 10 |
| 16 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m59.357s | 2.389s | 10 |
| 17 | Rob Huff | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 2m55.541s | 58.573s | 3 |
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