Albuquerque leads Rosberg Audi one-two in second DTM practice at Spielberg
Filipe Albuquerque led a one-two for the Rosberg Audi squad in the second DTM free practice session at Spielberg on Saturday morning
Albuquerque, one of only four drivers to have scored points in every race so far this season, leapt to the top of the timesheets with 15 of the 90 minutes to go; his time of 1m25.654s unchallenged for the remainder.
His team-mate Edoardo Mortara was 0.094s adrift while the impressive Joey Hand brought his RMG BMW up to third at the very end. The top five was completed by Abt Audi team-mates Mattias Ekstrom and Timo Scheider while Jamie Green was the best of the Mercedes contingent in sixth for HWA.
After overnight rain, the track was damp for the beginning of the session, with laptimes gradually improving from the 1m43s early on to the 1m34s with half an hour gone.
Champion Martin Tomczyk was the first man to switch from wet Hankook tyres to slicks and immediately found four seconds per lap, although he eventually faded to 17th.
Among the drivers popping up ahead of him were HWA's Ralf Schumacher, who had a couple of minor offs during the damp part of the session, Friday pace-setter Mike Rockenfeller (Rosberg Audi), Roberto Merhi (Persson Mercedes) and Dirk Werner (Schnitzer BMW).
Title contenders Gary Paffett and Bruno Spengler were 11th and 16th fastest for HWA and Schnitzer respectively while Robert Wickens - 15th for Mucke Mercedes - suffered the only spin of the session when he gyrated at the exit of Turn 1 late on.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Filipe Albuquerque Rosberg Audi 1m25.654s 2. Edoardo Mortara Rosberg Audi 1m25.748s + 0.094s 3. Joey Hand RMG BMW 1m25.769s + 0.115s 4. Mattias Ekstrom Abt Audi 1m25.781s + 0.127s 5. Timo Scheider Abt Audi 1m25.902s + 0.248s 6. Jamie Green HWA Mercedes 1m25.906s + 0.252s 7. Ralf Schumacher HWA Mercedes 1m25.917s + 0.263s 8. Mike Rockenfeller Phoenix Audi 1m25.951s + 0.297s 9. Roberto Merhi Persson Mercedes 1m25.955s + 0.301s 10. Dirk Werner Schnitzer BMW 1m25.981s + 0.327s 11. Gary Paffett HWA Mercedes 1m26.073s + 0.419s 12. Christian Vietoris HWA Mercedes 1m26.124s + 0.470s 13. Augusto Farfus RMG BMW 1m26.138s + 0.484s 14. Miguel Molina Phoenix Audi 1m26.190s + 0.536s 15. Robert Wickens Mucke Mercedes 1m26.218s + 0.564s 16. Bruno Spengler Schnitzer BMW 1m26.341s + 0.687s 17. Martin Tomczyk RMG BMW 1m26.366s + 0.712s 18. Adrien Tambay Abt Audi 1m26.425s + 0.771s 19. Rahel Frey Abt Audi 1m26.595s + 0.941s 20. Susie Wolff Persson Mercedes 1m26.651s + 0.997s 21. Andy Priaulx RBM BMW 1m26.863s + 1.209s 22. David Coulthard Mucke Mercedes 1m26.881s + 1.227s
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| Series | DTM |
| Author | Jamie O'Leary |
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