Bruno Spengler fastest in final DTM practice at the Norisring
Bruno Spengler set the pace in the final DTM free practice session at the Norisring on Saturday morning
The Canadian, who lost the championship lead to Martin Tomczyk last time out, went to the top of the times with eight minutes remaining in the session, just seconds after Ralf Schumacher had taken top spot.
Schumacher was a frontrunner throughout the 90 minutes, but he had to settle for third place as Maro Engel's 2008 Mercedes climbed to second just four minutes from the end.
Behind the Mercedes top three lockout, Friday pacesetters Mattias Ekstrom and Oliver Jarvis were next up for Audi. The Abt team-mates had traded blows at the top briefly, before they were bumped down in the final 10 minutes.
Championship leader Tomczyk was sixth in his 2008 Audi, just ahead of former champions Timo Scheider (Audi) and Gary Paffett (Mercedes).
David Coulthard's running came to a premature end when the Scot's C-class ground to a halt with around a quarter of an hour remaining.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Bruno Spengler HWA Mercedes 48.138s 2. Maro Engel Mucke Mercedes 48.165s + 0.027s 3. Ralf Schumacher HWA Mercedes 48.188s + 0.050s 4. Mattias Ekstrom Abt Audi 48.192s + 0.054s 5. Oliver Jarvis Abt Audi 48.229s + 0.091s 6. Martin Tomczyk Phoenix Audi 48.258s + 0.120s 7. Timo Scheider Abt Audi 48.260s + 0.122s 8. Gary Paffett HWA Mercedes 48.344s + 0.206s 9. Christian Vietoris Persson Mercedes 48.360s + 0.222s 10. Edoardo Mortara Rosberg Audi 48.375s + 0.237s 11. Jamie Green HWA Mercedes 48.456s + 0.318s 12. Miguel Molina Abt Audi 48.467s + 0.329s 13. Mike Rockenfeller Abt Audi 48.579s + 0.441s 14. Renger van der Zande Persson Mercedes 48.636s + 0.498s 15. Filipe Albuquerque Rosberg Audi 48.668s + 0.530s 16. Susie Stoddart Persson Mercedes 48.708s + 0.570s 17. Rahel Frey Phoenix Audi 48.747s + 0.609s 18. David Coulthard Mucke Mercedes 48.951s + 0.813s
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