Yvan Muller was the man to beat in free practice ahead of qualifying for the World Touring Car Championship Race of the Czech Republic. The Frenchman topped both sessions with his Chevrolet team locking out the top three in both.
In the first session championship leader Rob Huff led the way until Muller displaced him at the top with seven minutes of the session remaining. Alain Menu then improved to second place on his final effort to make it a Chevrolet 1-2-3.
Norbert Michelisz was the best of the rest in his Zengo BMW, ahead of Robert Dahlgren in the Polestar Volvo C30 – a promising first session for the car with its new 1.6 litre turbo engine. Tom Coronel was sixth for ROAL Motorsport, ahead of Michel Nykjaer who was the quickest of the SUNRED SEATs in seventh. Darryl O’Young was eighth for Bamboo, with Gabriele Tarquini ninth in his first session with the 1.6 litre turbo engine. Kristian Poulsen rounded out the top ten in his Engstler BMW.
In the second session Muller posted the quickest time early on, with Huff improving to second in the closing stages to relegate Menu to third. The Volvo was impressive again with Dahlgren posting the fourth quickest time. Coronel was fifth, ahead of Tarquini, Michelisz and Nykjaer. O’Young was ninth with Franz Engstler in tenth.
