DTM is BACK!! Audi is starting right where they left off and goes 1-2-3 in the first set of test this monring.
Martin Tomczyk (#2 / Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Red Bull Audi A4 DTM 2008)
Mattias Ekström set the fastest time in the first test of the DTM at the Norisring. With 49.058 seconds, the Swede outpaced his team-mate, DTM points’ leader Timo Scheider by 0.006 seconds. In the closing stages, Tom Kristensen moved up into third place and completed the trio from Ingolstadt out in front. DTM record champion was the fastest driver with an AMG Mercedes C-Class in fourth place. The German was 0.136 seconds down.
Ekström’s top time was only 0.266 seconds slower than the current Norisring lap record, established by Bruno Spengler last year. As experience learns that the grip at the street circuit in Nuremberg increases with every additional session during the weekend, it can be expected that the Canadian’s record could be beaten this year, weather permitting. In the first test, Spengler was sixth with a lap time of 49.292 seconds behind fifth-placed Christijan Albers with the 2006-spec Audi A4 DTM.
Mercedes-Benz rookie drivers, Ralf Schumacher (70 laps) and Maro Engel (73 laps) completed the highest number of laps at thr 2.3 kilometres long street circuit. Thus, the Mücke duo came very close to the race distance, scheduled for 74 laps, and eventually occupied eighth and twelfth place respectively. The driver to complete the most laps with an Audi A4 was Katherine Legge. Second-placed Scheider covered the smallest distance with 33 laps, less than half the race distance.
Temperatures in the morning were summer-like with an air temperature of 25 and an asphalt temperature of 30 degrees. It will be warmer in the afternoon while the risk of rain decreases. As a result, the DTM stars will be facing a hot second test of 90 minutes from 14.00 h onwards.
