José María López has gone fastest in Free Practice 1 for WTCC Race of Argentina as three manufacturers filled the top seven places.
In warm and dry conditions the 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship winner set a best lap of 1m47.922s in his factory Citroën C-Elysée WTCC.
Portugal’s Tiago Monteiro (Honda Civic WTCC) was second fastest, lapping the 4.806-kilometre Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo circuit 0.465s slower than the Argentine hero, a three-time winner of his home WTCC race.
Mehdi Bennani, one of the leading contenders for Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy honours this season, was third quickest for Sébastien Loeb Racing with team owner and works Citroën driver Loeb fourth.
Four-time WTCC champion Yvan Muller was fifth, Gabriele Tarquini sixth and Rob Huff seventh in the all-new LADA Vesta. Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 driver Tom Chilton was eighth quickest, Dušan Borković ninth and Norbert Michelisz 10th.
Tom Coronel was delayed when he picked up a front-left puncture on his Chevrolet, which resulted in the session being momentarily red-flagged to enable the Dutch driver to enter the pit lane safely.
Free Practice 2 is scheduled for 11h00 local time with Qualifying getting underway at 15h00.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1:48.028 |
| 2 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1:48.493 |
| 3 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1:48.719 |
| 4 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1:48.910 |
| 5 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1:48.988 |
| 6 | Gabriele Tarquini | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1:49.432 |
| 7 | Robert Huff | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1:49.441 |
| 8 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1:49.831 |
| 9 | Dusan Borkovic | Proteam Racing | Honda | 1:50.162 |
| 10 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 1:50.247 |
| 11 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1:50.325 |
| 12 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1:50.408 |
| 13 | Ma Qing Hua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1:50.434 |
| 14 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1:50.474 |
| 15 | Rickard Rydell | Nika International | Honda | 1:50.710 |
| 16 | Stefano D’Aste | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1:50.792 |
| 17 | James Thompson | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1:51.408 |
| 18 | Gregoire Demoustier | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet | 1:51.466 |