Campos Racing's Filippi tops Barcelona WTCR testing in Cupra
Campos Racing driver John Filippi set the fastest time in World Touring Car Cup testing at Barcelona
Filippi set his fastest lap in the afternoon session, lapping the Spanish Grand Prix circuit in a best time of 1m54.443s in his Cupra TCR with a little more than 10 minutes left on the clock.
He also completed the most laps of any driver, racking up 56 in the four-hour morning session and adding 45 to that in the afternoon to surpass the 100-lap mark for the day.
Filippi ended just over a second clear of the next fastest car, with Aurelien Panis - the son of 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner Olivier - beating his Comtoyou Racing Audi team-mate Nathaneal Berthon to second place with a 1m55.452s.
Yann Ehrlacher was fourth in his Munnich Motorsport Honda Civic, with Frederic Vervisch in a third Comtoyou Audi matching his time of 1m55.782s late on.
Filippi's fastest lap completed an encouraging day for the Campos squad.
He was beaten to the fastest time in the morning by team-mate Pepe Oriola, who recorded a 1m54.698s in his Cupra.
That left the Spaniard 0.949s ahead of Filippi, while Berthon was the only other driver in that session to lap within a second of the pace in his Comtoyou Audi RS3 LMS.
Six of the seven brands competing in the WTCR world cup were represented in the top 10 in the morning.
Mehdi Bennani ended up fourth in the morning for the Sebastien Loeb Racing outfit that will benefit from support from Volkswagen Motorsport in 2018, ahead of the two DG Sport Peugeot 308TCRs of Aurelien Comte and Mato Homola.
Gabriele Tarquini headed BRC Hyundai team-mate Norbert Michelisz for seventh, with Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo Giulietta) ninth and Vervisch rounding out the morning top 10.
Ehrlacher was also Honda's leading runner in the morning and ended up 12th.
All but one of the season's 25 entries were present, with Rob Huff missing the test and Wednesday's media launch event due to a virus.
Leading morning times
| Position | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
| 1. | Pepe Oriola | Campos Racing | Cupra | 1m54.698s |
| 2. | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Cupra | 1m55.647s |
| 3. | Nathaneal Berthon | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 1m55.663s |
| 4. | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen | 1m55.802s |
| 5. | Aurelien Comte | DG Sport | Peugeot | 1m55.804s |
| 6. | Mato Homola | DG Sport | Peugeot | 1m55.910s |
| 7. | Gabriele Tarquini | BRC Racing | Hyundai | 1m56.044s |
| 8. | Norbert Michelisz | BRC Racing | Hyundai | 1m56.078s |
| 9. | Fabrizio Giovanardi | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo | 1m56.109s |
| 10. | Frederic Vervisch | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 1m56.152s |
Leading afternoon times
| Position | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
| 1. | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Cupra | 1m54.443s |
| 2. | Aurelien Panis | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 1m55.452s |
| 3. | Nathaneal Berthon | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 1m55.728s |
| 4. | Yann Ehrlacher | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 1m55.782s |
| 5. | Frederic Vervisch | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 1m55.782s |
| 6. | Pepe Oriola | Campos Racing | Cupra | 1m55.802s |
| 7. | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen | 1m55.885s |
| 8. | Benjamin Lessennes | Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda | 1m55.893s |
| 9. | Gabriele Tarquini | BRC Racing | Hyundai | 1m55.917s |
| 10. | Gianni Morbidelli | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo | 1m56.003s |
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