Macau WTCR: Huff sets new lap record, tops practice
Rob Huff set a new TCR lap record of the Guia circuit to top World Touring Car Cup practice for this weekend's season finale in Macau.
Rob Huff, Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR
Malcolm Griffiths
Huff, a nine-time winner of the Guia race, set a best time of 2m29.766s in his Sebastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI in FP2 to head Thursday's second half-hour practice session by 0.533 seconds from Munnich Motorsport Honda Civic driver Yann Ehrlacher.
That benchmark time was more than 1.7sec faster than the previous best TCR lap in Macau, which was also set by Huff when he contested the TCR International Series finale in 2015, although it had already been beaten in FP1 by WRT Audi driver Jean-Karl Vernay.
Vernay's fastest time in the first session, a 2m31.328s, had given him top spot by 0.575s from Esteban Guerrieri (Munnich Motorsport Honda), while Huff was third.
Title contender Yvan Muller, who is second overall but 39 points behind leader Gabriele Tarquini, ended FP2 in third in his YMR Hyundai i30 N ahead of Vernay's RS3 LMS and the second Golf of Mehdi Bennani.
Guerrieri ended FP2 sixth, 0.805s off the pace after improving on his final lap, ahead of 2017 World Touring Car champion Thed Bjork, who is one of seven drivers still in contention to claim the inaugural WTCR title.
BRC Racing Hyundai pair Norbert Michelisz and Tarquini were eighth and ninth, while Ma Qing Hua - making his third appearance of the season in place of Tiago Monteiro at Honda outfit Boutsen Ginion - rounded out the top 10.
Kevin Ceccon was the Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo operation's lead representative in FP2 in 12th, ahead of the highest-placed non-Hyundai driver in the points standings, Pepe Oriola (Campos Racing Cupra).
Andre Couto, the 2000 Macau Grand Prix winner, was the fastest of the six wildcard entrants contesting the event in FP2, lapping his MacPro Racing Honda Civic 6.264s slower than Huff's benchmark. Kevin Tse Wing Kin (Audi RS3 LMS) had been fastest of the six additional entrants in first practice.
Second practice
Cla | # | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12 | Rob Huff | Volkswagen | 10 | 2'29.766 | 147.109 | ||
2 | 68 | Yann Ehrlacher | Honda | 10 | 2'30.299 | 0.533 | 0.533 | 146.587 |
3 | 48 | Yvan Muller | Hyundai | 9 | 2'30.448 | 0.682 | 0.149 | 146.442 |
4 | 69 | Jean-Karl Vernay | Audi | 9 | 2'30.450 | 0.684 | 0.002 | 146.440 |
5 | 25 | Mehdi Bennani | Volkswagen | 11 | 2'30.540 | 0.774 | 0.090 | 146.353 |
6 | 86 | Esteban Guerrieri | Honda | 10 | 2'30.571 | 0.805 | 0.031 | 146.322 |
7 | 11 | Thed Björk | Hyundai | 9 | 2'30.885 | 1.119 | 0.314 | 146.018 |
8 | 5 | Norbert Michelisz | Hyundai | 9 | 2'31.013 | 1.247 | 0.128 | 145.894 |
9 | 30 | Gabriele Tarquini | Hyundai | 9 | 2'31.594 | 1.828 | 0.581 | 145.335 |
10 | 55 | Ma Qing Hua | Honda | 10 | 2'31.740 | 1.974 | 0.146 | 145.195 |
11 | 42 | Timo Scheider | Honda | 10 | 2'31.824 | 2.058 | 0.084 | 145.115 |
12 | 31 | Kevin Ceccon | Alfa Romeo | 11 | 2'32.007 | 2.241 | 0.183 | 144.940 |
13 | 74 | Pepe Oriola | Seat | 5 | 2'32.084 | 2.318 | 0.077 | 144.867 |
14 | 23 | Nathanael Berthon | Audi | 10 | 2'32.234 | 2.468 | 0.150 | 144.724 |
15 | 27 | John Filippi | Seat | 9 | 2'32.434 | 2.668 | 0.200 | 144.534 |
16 | 22 | Frederic Vervisch | Audi | 9 | 2'32.551 | 2.785 | 0.117 | 144.423 |
17 | 16 | Luigi Ferrara | Alfa Romeo | 8 | 2'32.837 | 3.071 | 0.286 | 144.153 |
18 | 21 | Aurelien Panis | Audi | 9 | 2'33.040 | 3.274 | 0.203 | 143.962 |
19 | 7 | Aurélien Comte | Peugeot | 11 | 2'33.234 | 3.468 | 0.194 | 143.780 |
20 | 70 | Mato Homola | Peugeot | 8 | 2'33.305 | 3.539 | 0.071 | 143.713 |
21 | 52 | Gordon Shedden | Audi | 11 | 2'33.320 | 3.554 | 0.015 | 143.699 |
22 | 9 | Tom Coronel | Honda | 10 | 2'33.775 | 4.009 | 0.455 | 143.274 |
23 | 20 | Denis Dupont | Audi | 4 | 2'34.864 | 5.098 | 1.089 | 142.266 |
24 | 89 | Andre Couto | Honda | 10 | 2'36.030 | 6.264 | 1.166 | 141.203 |
25 | 60 | Filipe Souza | Audi | 9 | 2'36.652 | 6.886 | 0.622 | 140.642 |
26 | 36 | Lo Kai | Audi | 10 | 2'37.545 | 7.779 | 0.893 | 139.845 |
27 | 28 | Kevin Tse | Audi | 10 | 2'38.388 | 8.622 | 0.843 | 139.101 |
28 | 8 | Norbert Nagy | Seat | 7 | 2'38.457 | 8.691 | 0.069 | 139.040 |
29 | 6 | Rui Valente | Volkswagen | 11 | 2'41.160 | 11.394 | 2.703 | 136.708 |
30 | 66 | Zsolt Szabo | Seat | 5 | 2'41.282 | 11.516 | 0.122 | 136.605 |
31 | 77 | Lam Kam | Audi | 9 | 2'43.080 | 13.314 | 1.798 | 135.099 |
First Practice
Cla | # | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 69 | Jean-Karl Vernay | Audi | 11 | 2'31.328 | 145.591 | ||
2 | 86 | Esteban Guerrieri | Honda | 10 | 2'31.903 | 0.575 | 0.575 | 145.039 |
3 | 12 | Rob Huff | Volkswagen | 10 | 2'32.297 | 0.969 | 0.394 | 144.664 |
4 | 48 | Yvan Muller | Hyundai | 10 | 2'32.513 | 1.185 | 0.216 | 144.459 |
5 | 5 | Norbert Michelisz | Hyundai | 10 | 2'32.758 | 1.430 | 0.245 | 144.228 |
6 | 68 | Yann Ehrlacher | Honda | 11 | 2'32.800 | 1.472 | 0.042 | 144.188 |
7 | 11 | Thed Björk | Hyundai | 11 | 2'33.067 | 1.739 | 0.267 | 143.936 |
8 | 25 | Mehdi Bennani | Volkswagen | 10 | 2'33.340 | 2.012 | 0.273 | 143.680 |
9 | 74 | Pepe Oriola | Seat | 8 | 2'33.381 | 2.053 | 0.041 | 143.642 |
10 | 21 | Aurelien Panis | Audi | 10 | 2'34.098 | 2.770 | 0.717 | 142.973 |
11 | 42 | Timo Scheider | Honda | 11 | 2'34.259 | 2.931 | 0.161 | 142.824 |
12 | 30 | Gabriele Tarquini | Hyundai | 10 | 2'34.293 | 2.965 | 0.034 | 142.793 |
13 | 23 | Nathanael Berthon | Audi | 11 | 2'34.356 | 3.028 | 0.063 | 142.734 |
14 | 27 | John Filippi | Seat | 8 | 2'34.530 | 3.202 | 0.174 | 142.574 |
15 | 70 | Mato Homola | Peugeot | 10 | 2'34.562 | 3.234 | 0.032 | 142.544 |
16 | 52 | Gordon Shedden | Audi | 10 | 2'34.727 | 3.399 | 0.165 | 142.392 |
17 | 16 | Luigi Ferrara | Alfa Romeo | 10 | 2'35.214 | 3.886 | 0.487 | 141.945 |
18 | 22 | Frederic Vervisch | Audi | 10 | 2'35.410 | 4.082 | 0.196 | 141.766 |
19 | 31 | Kevin Ceccon | Alfa Romeo | 10 | 2'35.606 | 4.278 | 0.196 | 141.588 |
20 | 7 | Aurélien Comte | Peugeot | 11 | 2'35.881 | 4.553 | 0.275 | 141.338 |
21 | 55 | Ma Qing Hua | Honda | 10 | 2'35.916 | 4.588 | 0.035 | 141.306 |
22 | 20 | Denis Dupont | Audi | 11 | 2'35.944 | 4.616 | 0.028 | 141.281 |
23 | 28 | Kevin Tse | Audi | 11 | 2'36.819 | 5.491 | 0.875 | 140.493 |
24 | 9 | Tom Coronel | Honda | 10 | 2'37.222 | 5.894 | 0.403 | 140.133 |
25 | 60 | Filipe Souza | Audi | 6 | 2'37.452 | 6.124 | 0.230 | 139.928 |
26 | 89 | Andre Couto | Honda | 10 | 2'37.727 | 6.399 | 0.275 | 139.684 |
27 | 36 | Lo Kai | Audi | 9 | 2'38.280 | 6.952 | 0.553 | 139.196 |
28 | 6 | Rui Valente | Volkswagen | 10 | 2'42.958 | 11.630 | 4.678 | 135.200 |
29 | 77 | Lam Kam | Audi | 8 | 2'45.582 | 14.254 | 2.624 | 133.057 |
30 | 66 | Zsolt Szabo | Seat | 2 | ||||
31 | 8 | Norbert Nagy | Seat |
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