José María López has begun his final FIA World Touring Car Championship appearance for now with the fastest time in first practice at WTCC DHL Race of Qatar.
The three-time world champion – who hopes to return to WTCC action again in the future – posted a best lap of 2m02.182s in his Citroën around the 5.380-kilometre Losail International Circuit.
That was 0.621 seconds faster than second-quickest Hugo Valente, whose LADA came to a halt on track at the end of the session. Volvo drivers Thed Björk and Robert Dahlgren led the way early on and finished up third and fourth respectively.
Rob Huff was the top Honda in fifth in front of LADA duo Gabriele Tarquini and Nicky Catsburg. On his final WTCC appearance, Yvan Muller was eighth with Tiago Monteiro and Mehdi Bennani completing the top 10.
Daniel Nagy spun off into a gravel trap early in the session, and although he was able to get his Honda moving again, the session was halted while the track was swept.
Free Practice 2 is next at 21h00 local time.