Honda has hit back from a frustrating trip to Slovakia with Gabriele Tarquini going fastest of all in testing for JVC KENWOOD WTCC Race of France.
The winner of the FIA World Touring Car Championship in 2009, Italian Tarquini lapped the 3.841-kilometre Circuit Paul Ricard in a test-topping 1m30.227s.
Ma Qing Hua, from China, was second fastest for Citroën, 0.112s slower than Tarquini. Tiago Monteiro set the third best time in his Honda with José-María López (Citroën) fourth and LADA driver Rob Huff fifth.
Sébastien Loeb was the top French runner in sixth followed by Nicky Catsburg and Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy trio Norbert Michelisz, Mehdi Bennani and Hugo Valente. Click here to view the full testing classification.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriele Tarquini | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1:30.227 |
| 2 | Ma Qing Hua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1:30.339 |
| 3 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 1:30.425 |
| 4 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1:30.607 |
| 5 | Robert Huff | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1:31.033 |
| 6 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1:31.146 |
| 7 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1:31.160 |
| 8 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 1:31.257 |
| 9 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 1:31.269 |
| 10 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1:31.470 |
| 11 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1:31.476 |
| 12 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1:31.484 |
| 13 | Rickard Rydell | Nika International | Honda | 1:31.616 |
| 14 | Grégoire Demoustier | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet | 1:31.877 |
| 15 | Jaap Van Lagen | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 1:31.934 |
| 16 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1:32.389 |
| 17 | Stefano D’Aste | Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1:32.531 |
| 18 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1:32.532 |