Norbert Michelisz

Yvan Muller got off to a good start at the FIA WTCC Race of Germany at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, leading Testing ahead of Citroën team-mate José María López.

Muller set down the first benchmark of 8:52.604 after his first run as drivers slowly re-accustomed themselves to the legendary Nordschleife circuit, with the times initially more than ten seconds from the pace from 2015.

Having led the way earlier on in the one-hour session, Muller returned to top spot just after the chequered flag with a time of 8m39.950s. López then moved up to second place, 0.877s slower than the Frenchman.

Rob Huff had sat top of the pile for Honda during the final five minutes of the allotted time. He ended up third ahead of team-mate Tiago Monteiro, with the fastest WTCC Trophy competitor Tom Chilton beating the final factory Honda driver Norbert Michelisz to fifth.

Hugo Valente was the quickest of the LADA racers in seventh, followed by Mehdi Bennani, Thed Björk and Nicky Catsburg. Gabriele Tarquini sat just outside the top 10 in 11th, one place ahead of Nürburgring expert Sabine Schmitz. Tom Coronel was 13th after sustaining a flat tyre on his second flying lap.

Source: FIA WTCC

Results of FP0: