José María López continues to be the man to beat at the Losail International Circuit after he clocked the best time in Free Practice 1 for FIA WTCC DHL Race of Qatar.
The double World Touring Car champion, who was fastest in testing earlier today, took 2m02.453s to complete the 5.380-kilometre lap in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC. Mehdi Bennani was the top Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy contender in second with Sébastien Loeb third and Stefano D’Aste a strong fourth for the privateer ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport team from Germany.
Gabriele Tarquini was fifth fastest for Honda with Chevrolet privateer Hugo Valente sixth, Norbert Michelisz seventh, Nicky Catsburg the leading LADA driver in eighth, Yvan Muller ninth and Nicolas Lapierre P10 in a second works LADA Vesta.
The 30-minute session provided the WTCC drivers with their first opportunity to sample the Losail International Circuit under the venue’s start-of-the-art floodlighting system, which provides enough illumination to light a residential street from Doha to Moscow.
Free Practice 2 gets underway at 21h30 local time with the two 12-lap night races taking place on Friday when the battle for the runner-up spot between Loeb and Muller and the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy fight between Bennani and Michelisz will be settled.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2:02.453 |
| 2 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 2:02.863 |
| 3 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2:03.068 |
| 4 | Stefano D’Aste | Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2:03.300 |
| 5 | Gabriele Tarquini | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2:03.353 |
| 6 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2:03.492 |
| 7 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 2:03.514 |
| 8 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 2:03.538 |
| 9 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2:03.546 |
| 10 | Nicolas Lapierre | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 2:03.569 |
| 11 | Ma Qing Hua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2:03.705 |
| 12 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2:03.719 |
| 13 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2:04.136 |
| 14 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2:04.315 |
| 15 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2:04.321 |
| 16 | Robert Huff | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 2:04.385 |
| 17 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2:04.445 |
| 18 | Grégoire Demoustier | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet | 2:04.739 |