Audi dominate practice at Hockenheim
Timo Scheider topped Saturday's DTM free practice session at Hockenheim on Saturday morning, as Audi's new A4 model locked out the top four places
The Abt Sportsline driver, who has been strong throughout pre-season testing, set a best lap nearly four tenths of a second quicker than his teammate Martin Tomczyk, with reigning champion Mattias Ekstrom and Tom Kristensen not far behind.
Paul di Resta kept up his form from Friday as he continued to be the strongest Mercedes runner, but the Scottish driver was six tenths of a second adrift of Scheider's best effort.
The HWA driver briefly got amongst the Audis during a late charge in the session, but he was soon bumped back to fifth as most of the field worked on qualifying trim in the closing stages.
While di Resta's HWA team-mates Bruno Spengler and Bernd Schneider were also in the top 10 in seventh and ninth respectively, Audi's strong performance was backed up by the 2007-spec cars of Mike Rockenfeller, Markus Winkelhock and Oliver Jarvis all making the top 10 as well.
Series rookie Ralf Schumacher climbed up to 14th with his final lap of the session, although his early running had been hampered when a piece of his rear wing came off the car.
The session also marked a return to action for Susie Stoddart, who had to sit out Friday afternoon following a dramatic fire in her car caused by a detached fuel line.
Pos Driver Car Time 1. Timo Scheider Audi 1:33.080 2. Martin Tomczyk Audi 1:33.408 + 0.328 3. Mattias Ekstrom Audi 1:33.468 + 0.388 4. Tom Kristensen Audi 1:33.518 + 0.438 5. Paul Di Resta Mercedes 1:33.625 + 0.545 6. Mike Rockenfeller Audi 1:33.635 + 0.555 7. Bruno Spengler Mercedes 1:33.666 + 0.586 8. Markus Winkelhock Audi 1:33.731 + 0.651 9. Bernd Schneider Mercedes 1:33.742 + 0.662 10. Oliver Jarvis Audi 1:33.811 + 0.731 11. Alexandre Premat Audi 1:33.956 + 0.876 12. Gary Paffett Mercedes 1:34.067 + 0.987 13. Jamie Green Mercedes 1:34.184 + 1.104 14. Ralf Schumacher Mercedes 1:34.595 + 1.515 15. Christijan Albers Audi 1:34.733 + 1.653 16. Maro Engel Mercedes 1:34.739 + 1.659 17. Mathias Lauda Mercedes 1:34.874 + 1.794 18. Susie Stoddart Mercedes 1:35.003 + 1.923 19. Katherine Legge Audi 1:35.607 + 2.527
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