Norbert Michelisz got his home round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship off to a perfect start by leading a Honda 1-2-3 in testing for Sunday’s WTCC Race of Hungary.

In warm and dry conditions Michelisz, who lives in nearby Budapest, went to the top of the leaderboard in the closing minutes of the session with a time of 1m48.112s around the newly resurfaced Hungaroring. Honda team-mate Rob Huff followed him across the line for second place, 0.369s slower, with championship leader Tiago Monteiro taking third.

“It’s a great way to start and the car feels pretty good,” said Michelisz, who made his racing debut at the Hungaroring after being talent-spotted in an online gaming competition. “There are still a lot of things to improve and we’re not sure exactly what the track surface is going to do over the weekend. But a Honda 1-2-3 is an ideal way to get things going.”

Monteiro led a large part of the half-hour session on the 4.381-kilometre layout before being displaced by Mehdi Bennani with around 10 minutes remaining. The Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën driver ended up fifth after Chevrolet RML Cruze racer Tom Coronel snatched fourth and the top WTCC Trophy spot after the chequered flag.

Reigning world champion José María López was sixth for Citroën ahead of the LADA duo of Hugo Valente and Nicky Catsburg. Tom Chilton was ninth in his Citroën, with Yvan Muller P10 in another one of the French machines. Fredrik Ekblom was the fastest Volvo Polestar pilot in P12. The WTCC drivers will be back on track with Free Practice 1 at 09h45 local time on 23 April.