[2] López set the pace in Friday testing, the session had been stopped briefly following an off for Kwong which left gravel scattered across the track.

[3] Muller was at the top of timing pages in first free practice on Saturday morning, López was second and Gabriele Tarquini's Honda was third.

Dušan Borković hit trouble early on, oversteering into the trackside barriers at turn eight and causing considerable damage to his Chevrolet.

The session was interrupted at the halfway stage when Felipe De Souza spun off and beached his Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW in the gravel.

After a brief delay the session resumed with ten minutes remaining, Tom Chilton was quickest early on before López and Muller set their first competitive times.

All four Honda drivers missed out on progressing to Q3 but Gabriele Tarquini finished tenth which would put him on pole for race two, Dušan Borković would share the front row with him.

On lap five Loeb braked too late into the hairpin, at the same time Muller ran into the back of Valente who suffered rear suspension failure in the collision and slowed.