Audi’s Mattias Ekström was the fastest driver in first practice for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) at the Hockenheimring, ahead of Mercedes’ Daniel Juncadella and BMW’s Marco Wittmann.
Ekström rose to the top of the times in the first ten minutes and remained on top of the times throughout the session, ending up 0.082 seconds faster than Juncadella.
Third-placed champion Wittmann rose up the timesheets in the final minutes of the session, having been outside the top fifteen for the most of the hour.
Third went to BMW’s Timo Glock, who was just over a tenth of a second slower than Ekström.
Audi trio Timo Scheider, Adrien Tambay and Miguel Molina were fifth, sixth and seventh fastest respectively.
BMW’s António Félix da Costa, Mercedes’ Paul di Resta and Audi’s Nico Müller completed the top ten, less than half a second off the pace.
A number of drivers pushed beyond the limits, with Juncadella suffering a spin at turn one early on in the session. Several drivers were caught out by the bumps under braking at the Spitzkehre, among them Gary Paffett late in the session. The Brit went on to post the 22nd fastest lap, more than a second off the pace.
Despite Mercedes bringing seven of their new C-Coupé’s to the Hockenheimring this weekend the manufacturer still propped up the times, with Paffett and Vitaly Petrov the only drivers to be over a second off the pace.
Top ten times
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 7 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 26 | 1:34.136 | |
| 2 | 19 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Petronas AMG Mercedes | DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé | 19 | 1:34.218 | 0.082 |
| 3 | 23 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 18 | 1:34.230 | 0.094 |
| 4 | 17 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 24 | 1:34.276 | 0.140 |
| 5 | 2 | Timo SCHEIDER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 23 | 1:34.346 | 0.210 |
| 6 | 16 | Adrien TAMBAY |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 24 | 1:34.412 | 0.276 |
| 7 | 8 | Miguel MOLINA | |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 24 | 1:34.422 | 0.286 |
| 8 | 18 | António Félix da COSTA |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 22 | 1:34.462 | 0.326 |
| 9 | 6 | Paul di RESTA |  |
AMG Mercedes | DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé | 19 | 1:34.488 | 0.352 |
| 10 | 22 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 29 | 1:34.490 | 0.354 |