Lucas Auer heads Lausitz free practice one

Mücke Motorsport’s Lucas Auer was fastest around the Euro Speedway Lausitzring in the first free practice session for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, as the Austrian strung together two quick laps to be only 0.221 seconds off the qualifying record set by Jamie Green last year.

Auer posted a 1:17.587 with four minutes remaining, with Nico Müller second, having led for the majority of the session. Team Abt Sportsline’s Edoardo Mortara would complete the top three, who were separated by almost half a second.

Timo Scheider and Gary Paffett were the first drivers to set competitive benchmarks, as dry but overcast conditions circled the Brandenburg track. Paffett would go 0.504 seconds faster than the two-time champion, and also was the first driver to break into the 1m18s after five minutes.

Mattias Ekström, Mike Rockenfeller and Müller were able to showcase the clear potential of the RS5 DTM, as the Swiss driver set his best effort of the session 12 minutes in, with a 1:17.979 around the 3.476-km circuit.

Miguel Molina would be just 0.023 seconds behind Ekström in fifth place, despite having suffered a right rear puncture, forcing him to pit just after ten minutes completed.

Christian Vietoris was the next best-placed of the Mercedes drivers in sixth, in front of last year’s double race winner, Jamie Green. Maximilian Götz took eighth, showing Mercedes’ clear strength in numbers after disappointment at Spielberg.

2013 champion Mike Rockenfeller and Paffett would complete the top ten, with Tom Blomqvist top of the BMW ranks. The Anglo-Swede posted the 13th fastest time, 0.887 seconds off the pace set by Auer.

Spielberg race winners Marco Wittmann and Timo Glock ended up 14th and 18th respectively, with the M4 DTMs having been compromised due to the minimum weight all BMWs are carrying this weekend.

The second 30-minute free-practice session at the Lausitzring starts at 08.50 local time (07.50 British Summer Time) on Saturday morning.
Session results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	22	Lucas AUER		BWT Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	18	1:17.587	0.000
2	51	Nico MÜLLER		Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi RS5 DTM	22	1:17.979	0.392
3	48	Edoardo MORTARA		Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi RS5 DTM	24	1:18.044	0.457
4	5	Mattias EKSTRÖM		Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi RS5 DTM	17	1:18.059	0.472
5	17	Miguel MOLINA		Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi RS5 DTM	22	1:18.082	0.495
6	8	Christian VIETORIS		BWT Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	18	1:18.259	0.672
7	53	Jamie GREEN		Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi RS5 DTM	24	1:18.261	0.674
8	84	Maximilian GÖTZ		Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	25	1:18.343	0.756
9	99	Mike ROCKENFELLER		Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi RS5 DTM	15	1:18.349	0.762
10	2	Gary PAFFETT		EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	18	1:18.362	0.775
11	3	Paul di RESTA		Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	20	1:18.447	0.860
12	27	Adrien TAMBAY		Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi RS5 DTM	24	1:18.460	0.873
13	31	Tom BLOMQVIST		BMW Team RBM	BMW M4 DTM	18	1:18.474	0.887
14	11	Marco WITTMANN		BMW Team RMG	BMW M4 DTM	13	1:18.494	0.907
15	7	Bruno SPENGLER		BMW Team MTEK	BMW M4 DTM	22	1:18.518	0.931
16	36	Maxime MARTIN		BMW Team RBM	BMW M4 DTM	20	1:18.668	1.081
17	34	Esteban OCON		EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	21	1:18.689	1.102
18	16	Timo GLOCK		BMW Team RMG	BMW M4 DTM	18	1:18.717	1.130
19	100	Martin TOMCZYK		BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW M4 DTM	21	1:18.734	1.147
20	18	Augusto FARFUS		BMW Team MTEK	BMW M4 DTM	22	1:18.738	1.151
21	12	Daniel JUNCADELLA		SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	19	1:18.784	1.197
22	10	Timo SCHEIDER		Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi RS5 DTM	20	1:18.826	1.239
23	6	Robert WICKENS		SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	18	1:18.967	1.380
24	13	António Félix da COSTA		BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW M4 DTM	20	1:19.036	1.449

Complete session results.