Shanghai WTCC: Bjork quickest in FP1 for Volvo

The Polestar Cyan Racing driver lapped the circuit in 1m59.999s and was just over two tenths of a second faster than reigning champion Jose Maria Lopez and three tenths faster than Citroen’s Yvan Muller in third.

Norbert Michelisz was fastest of the Honda drivers in fourth position, 0.558 seconds from P1, while Fredrik Ekblom made it two Volvos in the top five on his return to the championship.

Nicky Catsburg headed Lada team-mate Gabriele Tarquini in sixth and seventh position, while Rob Huff rounded off the top eight.

The session proceeded without any incidents, although with the start of the session being delayed by 15 minutes due to track preparations.

FP1 results:

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Thed Björk	Volvo	9	1'51.999
2	Jose Maria Lopez	Citroën	8	1'52.200	0.201
3	Yvan Muller	Citroën	10	1'52.346	0.347
4	Norbert Michelisz	Honda	12	1'52.557	0.558
5	Fredrik Ekblom	Volvo	12	1'52.562	0.563
6	Nicky Catsburg	LADA	13	1'52.649	0.650
7	Gabriele Tarquini	LADA	10	1'52.758	0.759
8	Rob Huff	Honda	11	1'52.917	0.918
9	Tom Chilton	Citroën	8	1'53.016	1.017
10	Mehdi Bennani	Citroën	13	1'53.258	1.259
11	Tom Coronel	Chevrolet	11	1'53.388	1.389
12	Hugo Valente	LADA	11	1'53.399	1.400
13	John Filippi	Chevrolet	11	1'53.580	1.581
14	Tiago Monteiro	Honda	10	1'53.682	1.683
15	James Thompson	Chevrolet	12	1'53.737	1.738
16	Daniel Nagy	Honda	11	1'54.561	2.562
17	Ferenc Ficza	Honda	11	1'54.990	2.991
18	Grégoire Demoustier	Citroën	13	1'55.612	3.613