Tiago Monteiro claimed top spot in first practice for the opening round of the 2016 FIA World Touring Car Championship, the JVCKENWOOD Race of France at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Honda driver Monteiro set a time of 1m42.565s after the chequered flag to beat the defending champion José María López of Citroën by 0.133 seconds on a wet track.
Frenchman Grégoire Demoustier had a strong run to third in his Sébastien Loeb Racing-run Citroën, just one thousandth of a second slower than López and ahead in the WTCC Trophy.
He was ahead of Honda’s Norbert Michelisz and new LADA man Gabriele Tarquini, while Rob Huff in his Honda was sixth. Next up was Tom Chilton in his Citroën, who was within half a second of the pace.
Nicky Catsburg of LADA and Citroën’s Yvan Muller were eighth and ninth respectively, with 10th taken by Volvo’s Fredrik Ekblom.
The second practice session takes place at 11h45 local time.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1:42.565 |
| 2 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1:42.698 |
| 3 | Grégoire Demoustier | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1:42.699 |
| 4 | Norbert Michelisz | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1:42.799 |
| 5 | Gabriele Tarquini | LADA Sport | Lada | 1:42.824 |
| 6 | Rob Huff | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1:42.904 |
| 7 | Tom Chilton | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1:43.040 |
| 8 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport | Lada | 1:43.213 |
| 9 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1:43.321 |
| 10 | Fredrik Ekblom | Polestar Cyan | Volvo | 1:43.595 |
| 11 | Hugo Valente | LADA Sport | Lada | 1:43.644 |
| 12 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1:44.033 |
| 13 | Thed Bjork | Polestar Cyan | Volvo | 1:44.217 |
| 14 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1:44.295 |
| 15 | Ferenc Ficza | Zengo | Honda | 2:20.721 |
| 16 | Rene Munnich | Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2:30.946 |
| 17 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | -:—.--- |
| 18 | Daniel Nagy | Zengo | Honda | -:—.--- |