Yvan Muller (1:49.096) was a little over six-tenths of a second quicker than his teammate Tom Chilton (1:49.749), with the Castrol Honda Civic of Tiago Monteiro third (1:49.861).

Local fans will be delighted at the pace of Argentine driver ‘Pechito’ López, who was fourth fastest - and best of the Yokohama Trophy – in the Wiechers-Sport BMW with a best lap of 1:49.906, while Norbert Michelisz was fifth in the Zengö Motorsport Honda Civic (1:50.082) ahead of the LADA Granta of James Thompson in sixth (1:50.304).

Hugo Valente emerged as the best of the SEAT drivers, placing himself in eighth position with a lap of 1:50.692.

The predicted slippery track conditions caught out several drivers during the thirty-minute session, with the three BMW cars of Charles Ng, López and Darryl O’Young all exploring – and exceeding – the grip levels at various points of the circuit.

The second Free Practice session begins at 12.00 local time, with the two-stage Qualifying due to start at 15.45 local time (20.45 CET).