Roberto Colciago, at the wheel of his M1RA Honda Civic, posted the best time in Free Practice 2, with a lap of 1:59.829, in a session that saw nine drivers within the same second and six different models of car in the top 7.
Surely, the perfect knowledge of his home track helped the Lombard driver, but not carrying success ballast anymore was probably the most rational explanation for the return to competitiveness of his car.
After an initial leadership of Jaap Van Lagen (2:01.943), Colciago (2:00.898) posted a provisional fastest lap, but he lost the position shortly after. However he was able to improve twice, first to 2.00.247, then to 1:59.829. Meaning that Colciago was on the two drivers, together with Pepe Oriola this morning, to complete a lap below the 2-minute threshold.
Second fastest in the afternoon session was Dušan Borković (2:00.053), with the GE-Force Alfa Romeo Giulietta, some 250 thousandths behind. That time allowed the Serbian to shortly lead the session at the beginning of the second half.
The two Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing SEAT León cars of Hugo Valente (2:00.425) and Pepe Oriola (2:00.431) ranked in third and fourth positions ahead of the Comtoyou Racing Audi RS3 LMS of Fred Vervisch (2:00.450).
Mat’o Homola, with the DG Sport Compétition Opel Astra, posted an excellent sixth time (2:00.505) by the end of the session and despite strong vibrations in the front, which had kept him in the pits for most of the time. Gianni Morbidelli drove his WestCoast Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI in the top 7 with a lap of 2:00.688.
Once again Stian Paulsen was unable to clock a fast lap; after the engine issue that had sidelined him during the morning session, this time the Norwegian had to stop because a blown rear tyre resulted in damage to the braking system of his SEAT León persisted.
The Qualifying session is scheduled for Saturday morning at 10:45 (8:45 GMT), with Race 1 starting at 14:30.
They will be both streamed live at www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv.
