The 2012 WTCC season got on its way this morning with three one-hour test sessions and the Chevrolet team made very clear from the start that the Cruze is still the car to beat.
Yvan Muller, Rob Huff and Alain Menu topped the time lists in all the sessions, with Alex Mac Dowall and Rickard Rydell completing a quintet of Chevrolet ahead of the rest of the field.
The reigning champion set the morning’s best lap of 1:58.375 in the second session, with Menu second fastest (1:58.479) and Huff third (1:58.549). MacDowall was an impressive fourth (1:58.734) in the bamboo-engineering car and topped the Yokohama Trophy.
BMW drivers Stefano D’Aste, Tom Coronel and Franz Engstler alternated themselves as best of the rest, with the latter posting a sixth fastest lap of 1:59.868. Gabriele Tarquini emerged as the quickest SEAT man (2:00.215), while Team Aon’s Ford Focus cars struggled to stay on the pace and Tom Chilton set a best lap of 2:01.956.
Further action will follow in the afternoon, with two more sessions.