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BMW and Audi dominate final DTM practice at Hockenheim

After a slightly delayed start to the third and final practice session at Hockenheim this morning, the likes of BMW and Audi have indicated to possess a clear edge over Mercedes, sharing the top ten places between them.

Once the session got underway, drivers initially struggled to heat up their tyres due to DTM’s recent ban on tyre blankets. This, in combination with the chilly ambient temperatures, led to a few spectacular off-track excursions and wild drifts by some.

BMW Team RBM driver Maxime Martin stormed to the top of the table early on in the session, once he felt comfortable with the car. The Belgian had an unfortunate race yesterday, finishing just outside the points after starting fifth on the grid.

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As the field of 18 all felt good to take on the 4.574 kilometre long circuit at speed, as lap times quickly started to tumble. Nico Müller went quickest in his Abt Sportsline Audi, before Jamie Green found an additional three tenths on track, elevating the Team Rosberg driver to the top spot instead.

Eventually, Martin fought back to regain the fastest lap of the session with a 1:31.777, with none of his competitors being able to beat that benchmark.

When the 30-minute session came to an end, BMW and Audi beat the Mercedes cars left, right and center. DTM veteran Gary Paffett was the best from Stuttgart in eleventh – over a second adrift of Martin’s BMW.

Mike Rockenfeller, who took a welcome third place yesterday, put in another storming performance and finished with the second fastest time, followed by fellow Audi stablemate Green in third.

Yesterday’s winner Lucas Auer was only able to put his AMG C63 DTM Coupé 15th fastest at the end of the 30-minute session.

Qualifying for race 2 starts today at 12:20 CEST (11:20 BST) with race 2 itself commencing later at 16:18 CEST (15:18 BST).

Session results

POS NO DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME GAP
1 36 Maxime MARTIN BMW Team RBM BMW M4 DTM 15 1:31.777 0.000
2 99 Mike ROCKENFELLER Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi RS5 DTM 15 1:32.000 0.223
3 53 Jamie GREEN Audi Sport Team Rosberg Audi RS5 DTM 15 1:32.143 0.366
4 7 Bruno SPENGLER BMW Team RBM BMW M4 DTM 15 1:32.231 0.454
5 51 Nico MÜLLER Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS5 DTM 17 1:32.400 0.623
6 33 René RAST Audi Sport Team Rosberg Audi RS5 DTM 17 1:32.526 0.749
7 5 Mattias EKSTRÖM Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS5 DTM 17 1:32.546 0.769
8 77 Loïc DUVAL Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi RS5 DTM 16 1:32.715 0.938
9 31 Tom BLOMQVIST BMW Team RMR BMW M4 DTM 16 1:32.731 0.954
10 11 Marco WITTMANN BMW Team RMG BMW M4 DTM 13 1:32.789 1.012
11 2 Gary PAFFETT Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM 18 1:32.800 1.023
12 16 Timo GLOCK BMW Team RMR BMW M4 DTM 16 1:32.831 1.054
13 63 Maro ENGEL Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM 21 1:32.988 1.211
14 15 Augusto FARFUS BMW Team RMG BMW M4 DTM 15 1:33.202 1.425
15 22 Lucas AUER Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM 21 1:33.432 1.655
16 3 Paul DI RESTA Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM 22 1:33.451 1.674
17 48 Edoardo MORTARA Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM 21 1:33.620 1.843
18 6 Robert WICKENS Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM 18 1:33.957 2.180
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