Kelvin Van Der Linde closes the first Free Practice session of the DTM on top, reaching the grand finale in Hockenheim where this morning a light but treacherous rain saw the protagonists of the German series running on wet asphalt for all 45 minutes of the race plan.
The South African of ABT Sportsline put his Audi ahead of everyone with a time of 1’53″499, preceding a trio of Porsches led by the championship leader, Thomas Preining (Manthey EMA), author of an improvement in the final which brought him in second place ahead of teammate Dennis Olsen and Ayançan Guven (Team75), all within 0″3 of the lead.
Top5 for Lucas Auer, the best of the Mercedes drivers, who with the AMG of Team Winward displaced the Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti (SSR Performance) in the final minutes, currently second in the rankings and in full fight for the title being -10 from Preining .
Marvin Dienst is seventh at the wheel of the Porsche of Toksport WRT, followed by the Audi of Ricardo Feller (ABT Sportsline) and the new arrival at GRT, Christian Engelhart, who places his golden Lamborghini in the Top10 together with Marco Wittmann, first of the BMWs with the Project 1 M4.
Ferrari is only 16th thanks to Jack Aitken (Emil Frey Racing) 1″4 behind the record, while his colleague Thierry Vermeulen does not go beyond the 25th fastest time.
Free Practice 2 is scheduled at 3.05pm, again lasting 45′; the weather forecast doesn’t seem likely to improve.
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