The Pau-Arnos roller coaster is Lynk & Co territory, at least after free practice. In fact, Yvan Muller was the fastest pilot in FP1 with the Lynk & Co 03 TCR, leading Cyan Racing’s one-two after beating Thed Björk. With a very similar script and even shorter distances, Uruguayan Santiago Urrutia has finished leading FP2, although in this case the second place was for Néstor Girolami. The Argentine Honda rider thus broke a new double for Lynk & Co in a session in which Mikel Azcona and CUPRA have shown symptoms of some suffering.
In fact, FP1 started with a good scare from Mikel Azcona at the chicane that shapes the first two corners of the Pau-Arnos circuit. Luckily, the Navarrese pilot managed to remain active during training to finish in tenth position. In the meantime, local Yvan Muller took the best FP1 record after signing a lap in 1: 19.747. The French rider was 112 thousandths ahead of his teammate Thed Björk, while third place went to Jean-Karl Vernay, another of the drivers competing at home. Esteban Guerrieri and Attila Tassi with the Honda closed the ‘top 5’.
As if it were a mirror, the FP2 once again had the same ‘features’ as the first freestyle. In fact, Mikel Azcona once again had an exit from the track almost as soon as the session started and again a Lynk & Co pilot set the tone. With everything, on this occasion, the Uruguayan Santiago Urrutia was the strongest rider after setting a best lap in 1: 19.295. Asserting his good form after winning one of the WTCR races at Most, Argentine Néstor Girolami took second place. Yvan Muller was third, while Nathanaël Berthon joined the French party with his fourth place.
Norbert Michelisz was in charge of closing the ‘top 5’ of FP2 with the first of the Hyundai, a result that served the Hungarian to overcome the leader Yann Ehrlacher. After taking second place in FP1, Thed Björk had to settle for seventh position ahead of Tom Coronel, Gabriele Tarquini and Frédéric Vervisch. For its part, Mikel Azcona finished FP2 in twelfth position, being one of the most active drivers on the track despite the new scare in the early part of the session. With everything, the Navarrese does not give up and he is still looking for the extra tenths in his CUPRA León Competition.