Polestar Volvo Racing led the FIA World Touring Car Championship pack in Free Practice 1 for the WTCC Race of Slovakia with Fredrik Ekblom and Thed Björk taking first and second.
Ekblom set a time of 2m05.420s, 0.313 seconds ahead of his team-mate Björk. Behind the two Volvo S60 Polestar TC1 drivers were two LADA Vesta racers, with Nicky Catsburg third ahead of Friday’s pacesetter Gabriele Tarquini. Catsburg’s session ended early due to a suspected throttle sensor failure.
The three works Honda Civic WTCCs were next up, with Norbert Michelisz leading Rob Huff and Tiago Monteiro. Hugo Valente took eighth in the last of the LADAs, in front of top Citroën driver José María López and lead Chevrolet RML Cruze man Tom Coronel, who set the pace in the WTCC Trophy.
Free Practice 2 will take place at 11h30.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fredrik Ekblom | Polestar Cyan | Volvo | 2:05.420 |
| 2 | Thed Bjork | Polestar Cyan | Volvo | 2:05.733 |
| 3 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport | Lada | 2:05.763 |
| 4 | Gabriele Tarquini | LADA Sport | Lada | 2:06.043 |
| 5 | Norbert Michelisz | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2:06.172 |
| 6 | Rob Huff | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2:06.357 |
| 7 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2:06.603 |
| 8 | Hugo Valente | LADA Sport | Lada | 2:06.750 |
| 9 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2:06.814 |
| 10 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2:06.863 |
| 11 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2:07.295 |
| 12 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2:07.365 |
| 13 | James Thompson | Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2:07.509 |
| 14 | Tom Chilton | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 2:07.693 |
| 15 | Ferenc Ficza | Zengo | Honda | 2:07.923 |
| 16 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 2:08.015 |
| 17 | Grégoire Demoustier | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 2:08.056 |