Wow, no rest for us here! Testing has kicked off in Mugello. We saw Ekstrom lead the first test session with none other than Timo Schedier in second.
A one-two for Audi in the first test: Mattias Ekström was fastest in the first test of the DTM on Friday from his fellow Audi-driver and team-mate Timo Scheider. With his Audi A4 DTM, Swedish driver, Ekström lapped the 5.245 kilometres long track in Tuscany in 1.44.651 minutes. Second-placed Scheider was 0.311 seconds down. Jamie Green was the fastest driver with an AMG Mercedes C-Class. He ranked third, 0.759 seconds down.
Ekström was not only the fastest driver out on the track on Friday morning, he was also the most prolific with 32 laps. The two Audi works drivers, Tom Kristensen in fourth and Mike Rockenfeller in 13th place, and Mercedes driver Ralf Schumacher, who ended up 15th after the first test, all completed 31 laps. Markus Winkelhock only drove eleven laps with the A4 entered by the Audi Team Rosberg. The German had to sit out the first hour in the pit box because his air jack system was broken.
Gary Paffett was the best-placed driver with a year-old car after the first test. The Briton, DTM champion in 2005, was seventh with his 2007-spec AMG Mercedes C-Class from Bernd Schneider. Alexandre Prémat was the fastest driver with a year-old Audi in ninth place while Martin Tomczyk completed the top ten.
Christijan Albers reached the highest top speed at the undulating Mugello track with his 2006-spec Audi A4 DTM: 269 km/h. His fastest lap time of 1.46.406 brought him in 14th place. Equally quick were the four HWA drivers, Jamie Green (268 km/h), Paul di Resta, Bernd Schneider and Bruno Spengler (all 267 km/h). Remarkable: Mattias Ekström was 10 km/h shy of the highest top speed.
- DTM
