Solite Indigo Racing's Junesung Park led a close first practice session at the Red Bull Ring, with the first 17 cars all split by less than a second in the 30-minute session.

Park’s time of 1:37.649, set at the halfway point in his Hyundai Elantra, managed to keep him on top to the end, despite a number of attempts to go faster. However, track limits violations, particularly at Turns 9 and 10, caused a number of laps to be deleted.

PMA Motorsport's Nicolas Taylor in fact managed to better Park’s time on three occasions, but his Audi RS 3 LMS was deemed to have crossed the line at Turn 10 on each occasion, and so the Canadian driver had to settle for fifth.

Park’s closest rival in the end was the Audi of Jimmy Clairet, with the title contender just under a tenth of a second down. A late improvement set by series newcomer René Kircher saw him finish the session third quickest in his ALM Motorsport Honda, just under two-tenths of a second behind.

Jenson Brickley was the best-placed of the CUPRAs in fourth, meaning four different manufacturers finished in the top four positions, while Viktor Andersson in the lone Lynk & Co of MA:GP also managed to finish in the top ten, just 0.430 down.

Championship leader Teddy Clairet finished the session in sixth position, despite carrying 30kg of compensation weight into the weekend.

The next practice session takes place at 17:15 CEST.