The Sébastien Loeb Racing driver, who is bidding for a record-extending victory number 10 around the 6.12-kilometre Circuito da Guia, was on top for most of the 30-minute session. But after others had gone quicker, Huff found more speed in his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR to set a fantastic time of 2m29.766s.

“It was a good lap,” said Huff. “The time was great but we’ve still got plenty more [to come] which I’m really pleased about. It’s testament to the team for what a great job they’ve done this year. We improved the car from this morning but we’ll look at the data and work with the team. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport’s Yann Ehrlacher ended up as Huff’s closest challenger, his Honda Civic Type R TCR 0.533s down on the Golf. Ehrlacher’s uncle, Yvan Muller, was third in his YMR Hyundai i30 N TCR as he bid to overhaul WTCR OSCARO points leader Gabriele Tarquini for the title this weekend.

Jean-Karl Vernay, who was fastest in Free Practice 1, again showed a good turn of pace to go fourth in his Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team entry. He headed Huff’s team-mate Mehdi Bennani in fifth.

Esteban Guerrieri indicated it could be a strong weekend for ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport with another good showing in his Honda. He was sixth ahead of fellow title contender Thed Björk in his YMR Hyundai.

BRC Racing Team’s Norbert Michelisz, who is seventh in the points and still in mathematical contention for the crown, was eighth, one place ahead of team-mate Tarquini, who looked more competitive in this session than in the first.

Ma Qing Hua’s Honda completed the top 10 ahead of Timo Scheider and Suzuka race winner Kevin Ceccon (Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR).

Pepe Oriola, another of the seven title contenders, was P13. Comtoyou Racing’s Nathanaël Berthon was next from John Filippi’s Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra TCR.

Former Macau Grand Prix winner André Couto was the best of the wildcard entries in this session, his MacPro Racing Honda ending up P24 of the 31-car entry. He headed Champ Motorsport’s Filipe Souza (Audi RS 3 LMS) and Teamwork Motorsport’s Kevin Tse.

First Qualifying at WTCR Race of Macau, the closing rounds of the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup presented by OSCARO – takes place on Friday at 08h50 local time, with the second following at 13h35.