WTCC Qatar: Tiago Monteiro quickest in practice for season finale
Honda driver Tiago Monteiro set the pace in World Touring Car Championship practice in Qatar, ahead of Friday's final races of the 2016 season
Monteiro, who retains an outside chance of taking second in the championship from Citroen's Yvan Muller, set a best time of 2m01.476 seconds in his Honda Civic in the second half-hour practice session at the Losail Circuit.
The Portuguese's effort was around four tenths faster than last year's second practice benchmark time of 2m01.859s, set by Jose Maria Lopez.
Monteiro's Honda team-mate Norbert Michelisz jumped up to second near the end of the session, ending up just 0.064s slower in his Civic, while Lada's Hugo Valente was third-fastest.
World champion Lopez, who like his Citroen team will leave the WTCC after this weekend's final round of the season, was fourth-fastest ahead of Gabriele Tarquini, the third factory Honda of Rob Huff and the independent Zengo Motorsport car of Daniel Nagy.
Lopez had been fastest in the afternoon's first practice session, setting a best time of 2m02.182s in his C-Elysee to finish 0.621s faster than Valente.
In two sessions with little in the way of incidents to report, Daniel Nagy brought out a red flag in the first when he buried his Zengo Motorsport Honda Civic in the gravel at Turn 5.
The second was also stopped after ROAL Motorsport's Tom Coronel ground to a halt in his Chevrolet Cruze, his front-left wheel having come off.
PRACTICE ONE TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Racing | Citroen | 2m02.182s | 8 |
2 | Hugo Valente | LADA Sport | Lada | 0.621s | 12 |
3 | Thed Bjork | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo | 0.867s | 7 |
4 | Robert Dahlgren | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo | 0.999s | 10 |
5 | Rob Huff | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1.018s | 10 |
6 | Gabriele Tarquini | LADA Sport | Lada | 1.137s | 11 |
7 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport | Lada | 1.204s | 12 |
8 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Racing | Citroen | 1.435s | 11 |
9 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1.505s | 10 |
10 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1.528s | 11 |
11 | Norbert Michelisz | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1.537s | 11 |
12 | Tom Chilton | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1.650s | 10 |
13 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1.695s | 11 |
14 | Gregoire Demoustier | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 2.194s | 11 |
15 | Ferenc Ficza | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 2.329s | 11 |
16 | James Thompson | Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2.846s | 12 |
17 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2.936s | 8 |
18 | Daniel Nagy | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 3.094s | 10 |
PRACTICE TWO TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2m01.476s | 10 |
2 | Norbert Michelisz | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 0.064s | 10 |
3 | Hugo Valente | LADA Sport | Lada | 0.318s | 12 |
4 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Racing | Citroen | 0.676s | 10 |
5 | Gabriele Tarquini | LADA Sport | Lada | 0.693s | 9 |
6 | Rob Huff | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 0.715s | 12 |
7 | Daniel Nagy | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 0.942s | 11 |
8 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 0.984s | 12 |
9 | Ferenc Ficza | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 1.025s | 11 |
10 | James Thompson | Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1.049s | 12 |
11 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Racing | Citroen | 1.299s | 9 |
12 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport | Lada | 1.344s | 11 |
13 | Thed Bjork | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo | 1.509s | 5 |
14 | Robert Dahlgren | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo | 1.688s | 10 |
15 | Tom Chilton | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 2.067s | 10 |
16 | Gregoire Demoustier | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 2.169s | 9 |
17 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2.463s | 13 |
18 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2.611s | 4 |
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