Mercedes’ Robert Wickens was fastest in the first Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) free practice session at Circuit Park Zandvoort, posting the fastest time of a 1:31.693 around the 4.307-km circuit.
The Canadian, who was leading the standings after both races at the Lausitzring in early June, led a Stuttgart 1-2-3, ahead of HWA’s Daniel Juncadella and Mücke Motorsport’s Christian Vietoris, with the trio split by just 0.098 seconds.
Team Abt Sportsline’s Mattias Ekström was the best of the Audis in fourth, 0.025 seconds behind Vietoris, with Gary Paffett making it four Mercedes C63 AMG DTMs in the top five.
The top 19 drivers were covered by just 0.823 seconds, as Bruno Spengler was the best of the BMWs in sixth, ahead of Austria’s Lucas Auer. Mike Rockenfeller and Nico Müller made it into the top ten, placing eighth and ninth respectively, as Martin Tomczyk rounded out the top ten.
Championship leader Marco Wittmann was slowest in his Red Bull M4 DTM, whilst his closest rival, Edoardo Mortara was a fraction in 23rd place, over 1.2 seconds off the pace, with title contenders Jamie Green and Paul Di Resta in 17th and 21st respectively.
The second free practice at Circuit Park Zandvoort gets underway at 13:45 CEST (BST + 1) on Saturday (16th June 2016), lasting for 30 minutes.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 6 | Robert WICKENS |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 18 | 1:31.693 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 12 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 16 | 1:31.738 | 0.045 |
| 3 | 8 | Christian VIETORIS |  |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 14 | 1:31.791 | 0.098 |
| 4 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 14 | 1:31.816 | 0.123 |
| 5 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 17 | 1:31.894 | 0.201 |
| 6 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER | |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 18 | 1:31.937 | 0.244 |
| 7 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 17 | 1:31.962 | 0.269 |
| 8 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:31.990 | 0.297 |
| 9 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:32.022 | 0.329 |
| 10 | 100 | Martin TOMCZYK | |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:32.061 | 0.368 |
| 11 | 18 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:32.079 | 0.386 |
| 12 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 18 | 1:32.174 | 0.481 |
| 13 | 17 | Miguel MOLINA | |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:32.220 | 0.527 |
| 14 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:32.252 | 0.559 |
| 15 | 13 | António Félix da COSTA |  |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 18 | 1:32.269 | 0.576 |
| 16 | 34 | Esteban OCON |  |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 18 | 1:32.286 | 0.593 |
| 17 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:32.365 | 0.672 |
| 18 | 10 | Timo SCHEIDER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:32.404 | 0.711 |
| 19 | 84 | Maximilian GÖTZ | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 17 | 1:32.516 | 0.823 |
| 20 | 27 | Adrien TAMBAY | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:32.750 | 1.057 |
| 21 | 3 | Paul di RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 16 | 1:32.777 | 1.084 |
| 22 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 17 | 1:32.861 | 1.168 |
| 23 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:32.911 | 1.218 |
| 24 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 4 | 1:33.096 | 1.403 |