This weekend, the series’ is back at the Lausitzring. Only this time, they are using the longer version of the track – the Grand Prix layout. Audi’s Nico Mueller was dominant once again in today’s practice sessions.
The day started off with FP1, where championship leader Mueller led the field with a gap of just over half a second to Philipp Eng in second place. Seven tenths behind Mueller, was Audi Team Rosberg’s Jamie Green in third. Ferdinand Habsburg, who scored his best DTM result last weekend, was fourth fastest, just 0.063 seconds ahead of two-time champion Rene Rast. Mueller’s teammate Robin Frijns ended the session in sixth, ahead of Audi Team Phoenix’s Loic Duval. BMW’s Marco Wittmann, Jonathan Aberdein and Lucas Auer completed the top ten.
As FP1 is usually known to test the long-run pace, there weren’t really improvements in the final minutes of the session. Mueller kept the lead with the best time of 1:37.425. With 8 minutes to go, there was a short yellow flag period as WRT’s Fabio Scherer went off the track.
Then, later in the afternoon cars headed out for FP2. In the early stages of the session, Mueller and Frijns battled for the top spot. After just 7 minutes, the Swiss driver posted the best time of 1:37.104, before being beaten by Frijns, who drove a 1:36.919. However, Mueller was on a faster lap again and took over the lead with a 1:36.904. He remained unbeaten for the rest of the session.
Frijns ended the session in second place, showing his potential once again. Last weekend, he took both pole positions and has the best qualifying pace at the moment it seems. BMW’s Sheldon van der Linde, who celebrated his first DTM podium a week ago finished third, with a gap of 0.435 seconds to Mueller.
Green continued his good pace and was fourth, followed by the two Austrian BMW drivers Lucas Auer and Philipp Eng. Mike Rockenfeller and Rene Rast finished the session in seventh and eighth, six tenths off Mueller. The top ten was completed by Jonathan Aberdein and Timo Glock. This showed a good mix between the two manufacturers, both with five cars in the top ten.
Audi Team Phoenix’s Duval was the only unlucky driver today. After trying to set a reference lap at the beginning of FP2, the car suffered technical issues, meaning he spent most of the session in the garage. His mechanics managed to fix the issue, so 6 minutes before the end, he rejoined the track.
Tomorrow, qualifying is set to start at 10.45 local time (09.45 UK time). The race will start later that afternoon at 13.30 local time (12.30 UK time).
