This downpour produced slippery conditions as the drivers went out on to the track for the first time. It was an incident filled half hour practice session, which saw SEAT Leon driver Rickard Rydell secure the top spot with a time of 1:36.923. Later the Swede spun at Turn 2, but managed to keep away from the barriers.

Augusto Farfus put his BMW Team Germany car into second position with a time of 1:36.929, only 0.006 behind the leader, and Gabriele Tarquini created a SEAT León sandwich by coming in third 0.228 behind Farfus.

James Thompson drove consistently in the Honda Accord to finish in fourth, ahead of Chevrolet driver Nicola Larini, and fellow countryman Andy Priaulx in the BMW Team UK car who made up the top six after hitting the barrier at Turn 6 (Parc Beaumont). The top six drivers covered a difference of only half a second.

The majority of the incidents on the track occurred at Turn 2 (Virage de la Gare) at the end of the long pit straight, where Laurent Cazenave, Tarquini, Rydell, Alain Menu and Oscar Nogués all had moments. Cars were slipping all over the slippery track, with the drivers fighting to keep them out of the barriers, as the track got wetter throughout the session. In the final five minutes Robert Huff crashed into the barrier at Turn 8 (Foch), damaging the left side of his car. He was forced to stop on the pit straight as the session came to a close.

For the Independents, Stefano D'Aste set the fastest time of 1:38.869 to put him in thirteenth position overall, ahead of his team-mate Sergio Hernández.