In first free practice of the DTM, the protagonists who are playing a role in the battle for the championship lined up at the front of the field.
With 1m31.760s, Mike Rockenfeller posted the fastest time and was 0.166 seconds faster than René Rast (1m31.926s) and 0.182 seconds faster than Mattias Ekström (1m31.942s).
Behind the three Audi drivers, Lucas Auer was classified fourth with his Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM.
Thus, the drivers who are fourth, second, first and sixth in the championship were represented.
“It is always difficult to value free practice,” Rockenfeller said. “But I prefer a good start into the weekend. From that perspective, I am happy. With the car, everything was good, but we can still make some slight improvements on the set-up.”
Mercedes-AMG and Audi alternated in fifth to eighth place with Gary Paffett, Jamie Green, Paul Di Resta and Nico Müller. Bruno Spengler was the fastest driver of a BMW M4 DTM in ninth place. Maxime Martin rounded out the top ten.
Second free practice of the DTM is taking place on Saturday, 14 October, at 9.55 hrs.