The final round of the 2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship got underway this morning in Macau with a special test and acclimatisation session on the tight and twisty street circuit. Nicola Larini end up the fastest driver. At the wheel of his Chevrolet Lacetti, the Italian completed a lap through the streets of Macau in 2:34.912, leading out his Chevrolet team mate Alain Menu in the timesheets. Menu's time was 0.119 of a second slower than that of his team-mate.

However, championship leader Augusto Farfus was satisfied with his 14th place overall as he struggles with 80 kg of "success" ballast onboard his N.technology-run Alfa 156. “I am really excited to be here," said the young Brazilian, who leads the title standings by just one point. "You know, today was just a test and it's too early to predict for the race. I am happy with things and used the test session to regain the feeling from last year. We are now working on the car to be faster and get in the top five for qualifying. I really am relaxed.” Farfus' fastest lap time of 2:36.633 (he completed 11 laps) was 1.721 seconds off Larini, a good start bearing in mind the weight he is being forced to carry and much better than his 'lighter' team mates could manage: Gianni Morbidelli was 19th quickest (2:38.532), while Salvatore Tavano was in 22nd spot (2:42.408). 26 drivers took part in the session.

Meanwhile Rickard Rydell was the best of the SEAT Sport drivers, setting the third best time overall (2:35.360). Behind him on the timesheet was BMW pilot and reigning champion Andy Priaulx who clocked his best time of 2:35.540 on his final lap.
 

Yvan Muller rounded off the top five, 0.952 of a second off the top pace. The other title claimants besides Farfus, Rydell, Muller and Priaulx occupied the following positions at the end of today's session: James Thompson 7th, Jörg Müller 11th, Gabriele Tarquini 13th, Peter Terting 15th and Dirk Müller 16th. Local drivers André Couto (SEAT León) and Ao Chi Hong (BMW 320i) set the 12th and 24th best lap respectively, while the third newcomer to the championship, Jan Magnussen, was 21st fastest in his BMW UK car. Tom Coronel, who has already claimed the Independents' Trophy was 17th quickest overall and best independent behind the wheel of his GR Asia SEAT León. Two independent drivers suffered crashes. On his first flying lap Stefano D'Aste was entering the Lisboa bend when his front right tyre flew off and he went straight down the run off area, spinning and hitting the barriers. Later in the session Diego Romanini went wide at the 'R' bend and strayed into the barrier, badly damaging his Wiechers-Sport BMW 320i. As a result the session was red-flagged but resumed shortly after.

Following the usual FIA WTCC race weekend format, two free practice sessions for the drivers will take place at Macau tomorrow morning ahead of the final qualifying session in the afternoon. The championship will be decided over two races which will be held on Sunday afternoon.