After a long winter break the FIA European Truck Championship drivers got back in the cockpit to perfect the set-up and performance of their trucks ahead of the first round of the nine event championship. In all there will be a feast of action for the competitors and fans with a huge 36 races to enjoy.

Jochen Hahn topped the times in the first Free Practice session with a best time of 1m04.551s in his self-run MAN truck. The German looked instantly comfortable on the 2.337kms circuit in the scenic Styrian mountains.

Just behind the triple FIA ETRC champion was Rene Reinert who finished 0.367s seconds behind his rival. Third in session one was Ryan Smith (MAN) who started his part season in the championship strongly with a 1m05.586s lap to place third.

Reigning champion Norbert Kiss placed seventh after fighting back from issues in the un-timed session earlier in the day

Multiple drive-through penalties were handed out in the session for penalty marker infringements with Ellen Lohr, Markus Altenstrasser, Sascha Lenz and Ryan Smith all having to make impromptu drives down the pitlane.

Free Practice 2 was a mirror image of the first with Jochen Hahn heading Reinert but this time by 0.411s. Hahn’s time was 1m04.663s, a shade slower than his FP1 best.

Third fastest was local hero Markus Altenstrasser who was just 0.076 away from Reinert. One of the pre-season favourites Adam Lacko in fourth on 1m05.667s in his Buggyra International Racing system ‘Fat Fox’

The action starts at 09.30 with a warm-up session before timed practice one (Q1) at 10.45.

Remember you can follow the action live with timing and truck tracker here