Alfa's Ma tops Ningbo practice as WTCR returns from two-month break
Alfa Romeo driver Ma Qing Hua led opening practice for the Ningbo World Touring Car Cup round, as the season resumed following a two and a half month break
Ma, a race winner already this season in the Team Mulsanne-run Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce, set a time of 1m51.419s around the 2.49-mile circuit in the final 10 minutes of the 45-minute session to end up fastest.
The Chinese driver had been eight tenths clear at that point, though the Munnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R of Nestor Girolami lapped just 0.076 seconds slower at the end of the session and ended up second.
That effort knocked Girolami's team-mate and championship leader Esteban Guerrieri down to third.
Guerrieri scored two wins and four other podiums during the European leg of the season prior to the WTCR summer break, and leads Norbert Michelisz by 24 points in the drivers' standings with the four-round Asian leg of the calendar still to run.
BRC Racing Hyundai driver Michelisz, who has also won two races this season, said "coming into this weekend I was feeling confident, but now that has changed", as a result of the latest Balance of Performance issued by TCR's technical department.
The most recent BoP issued ahead of the Ningbo weekend adjusted the maximum boost pressure Cyan Racing's Lynk & Co 03s and all three Volkswagen Audi Group cars - the Audi RS3 LMS, Cupra and Volkswagen Golf GTI, which were also all given weight breaks by the previous BoP - can run at.
The maximum engine power output for all four cars does however remain the same.
"On paper this should have been a strong weekend for us, but now with the changes to the BoP favouring a lot of other cars in a big way, which was not really obvious for the wider audience, it made me realise that most probably we will struggle," said Michelisz.
"This is, for me, is bad news - you always hope for better things to come but being realistic, it's a big advantage for Audi, Volkswagen and Lynk & Co in terms of performance.
"It's going to be three, four tenths per lap which they get as a benefit."
Michelisz ended FP1 at Ningbo in 11th, 1.133s off the pace, and two places ahead of team-mate Gabriele Tarquini, who also voiced concerns about the advantage Cyan's Lynk & Cos - which were developed by Geely Group Motorsport - could have at the brand's home race.
The third and fourth BRC Hyundai i30 Ns of Nicky Catsburg and Augusto Farfus were fourth and fifth respectively in first practice, while Yvan Muller was the fastest Lynk & Co runner in 12th.
Motorsport.tv will show live coverage of qualifying and all three races at each of the four remaining 2019 WTCR rounds
FP1 times
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ma Qinghua | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo | 1m51.419s | 18 |
2 | Nestor Girolami | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 0.076s | 19 |
3 | Esteban Guerrieri | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 0.306s | 15 |
4 | Nicky Catsburg | BRC Racing Team | Hyundai | 0.555s | 15 |
5 | Augusto Farfus | BRC Racing Team | Hyundai | 0.599s | 16 |
6 | Rob Huff | SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen | 0.806s | 13 |
7 | Mikel Azcona | PWR Racing | Cupra | 0.884s | 19 |
8 | Aurelien Panis | Comtoyou Cupra | Cupra | 0.920s | 14 |
9 | Frederic Vervisch | Comtoyou Audi | Audi | 1.011s | 15 |
10 | Benjamin Leuchter | SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen | 1.129s | 15 |
11 | Norbert Michelisz | BRC Squadra Corse | Hyundai | 1.133s | 18 |
12 | Yvan Muller | Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co | 1.140s | 15 |
13 | Gabriele Tarquini | BRC Squadra Corse | Hyundai | 1.184s | 15 |
14 | Mehdi Bennani | SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen | 1.479s | 13 |
15 | Jean-Karl Vernay | WRT | Audi | 1.479s | 13 |
16 | Andy Priaulx | Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co | 1.522s | 17 |
17 | Daniel Haglof | PWR Racing | Cupra | 1.543s | 16 |
18 | Thed Bjork | Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co | 1.557s | 17 |
19 | Johan Kristoffersson | SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen | 1.608s | 15 |
20 | Kevin Ceccon | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo | 1.614s | 13 |
21 | Yann Ehrlacher | Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co | 1.665s | 16 |
22 | Tiago Monteiro | KCMG | Honda | 1.747s | 17 |
23 | Tom Coronel | Comtoyou Cupra | Cupra | 2.025s | 18 |
24 | Gordon Shedden | WRT | Audi | 2.302s | 15 |
25 | Attila Tassi | KCMG | Honda | 2.444s | 15 |
26 | Niels Langeveld | Comtoyou Audi | Audi | 2.680s | 19 |
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