Slovakia - FP1: Oriola sets the pace

The session was dominated from the outset by SEAT

Following the first thirty-minute Free Practice session at the Slovakia Ring, the SEAT León WTCC of Pepe Oriola topped the timesheets with a lap of 2:13.434 ahead of Gabriele Tarquini in the Lukoil Racing Team’s sister car (2:13.632).

The session was dominated from the outset by SEAT, with Tiago Monteiro setting the initial pace before the red flags came out to allow his car to be recovered when it cut out and refused to restart. The Portuguese driver was then able to rejoin after a short pit stop.

Third fastest – running without 30kg of ballast for the first time after changes to the car’s suspension – was James Nash in the Team AON Ford Focus (2:13.863), although his teammate Tom Chilton only managed to complete one installation lap; fuel pressure sensor problems saw a frustrated Chilton spend much of the half-hour in the pits.

Fourth fastest, and quickest of the Chevrolet team cars, was the Cruze of Robert Huff (2:14.254) just ahead of his colleague Alain Menu (2:14.671), while Alexey Dudukalo in the second of the Lukoil SEAT León cars was sixth fastest with a time of 2:14.699.

The session gave the WTCC drivers the first chance to experience the Slovakiaring circuit at speed and several fell foul of its tight infield corners. The fast left-hander at Turn 9 is already proving to be one of the trickiest sections of the 5.913km circuit, with Stefano D’Aste, Darryl O’Young, Alberto Cerqui and Mehdi Bennani all taking to the grass at T9 at some point.