Audi lead the way in Zandvoort tests
Audi's ex-Formula One star Heinz-Harald Frentzen led the way in three hours of testing ahead this weekend's seventh round at Zandvoort in Holland
If there was ever a time that Audi need to dominate a DTM weekend, then Zandvoort is it.
Their best placed driver, Tom Kristensen, lies 12 points adrift of series leader Bernd Schneider of Mercedes-Benz and is tied on points with Mercedes's form man Bruno Spengler, who has won two from two races recently.
Frentzen, who has copped much flak in the German media in recent weeks, lapped in 1:34.487 on Friday afternoon, but it was the fastest times from this morning, set by Audi colleagues Martin Tomczyk, Christian Abt and Kristensen, that filled the next three places on the day.
Surprisingly, Stefan Mucke was the quickest Mercedes driver of the day, and his 2005-spec C-Class was over four tenths adrift of Frentzen's best but good enough for fifth overall on the day.
Spengler and Brands Hatch winner Mattias Ekstrom were next up and joined in the 1:34.9s bracket by Daniel la Rosa (2005 Mercedes), Jean Alesi (2005 Mercedes), Mika Hakkinen (2006 Mercedes) and Pierre Kaffer (2005 Audi).
Schneider, meantime, was 13th in both sessions - but don't expect him to wallow down there when the serious action starts tomorrow.
All the 2006-spec Mercedess looked decidedly twitchy on-track today, but probably because they didn't touch their new tyres.
Morning times:
Pos Driver Make Time Laps 1. Tomczyk Audi A4 1:34.758 2 2. Abt Audi A4 1:34.785 + 0.027 1 3. Kristensen Audi A4 1:34.859 + 0.101 2 4. Ekstrom Audi A4 1:35.241 + 0.483 2 5. Scheider Audi A4 1:35.259 + 0.501 2 6. Spengler AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:35.497 + 0.739 2 7. Hakkinen AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:35.650 + 0.892 2 8. Kiesa Audi A4 1:35.679 + 0.921 3 9. Alesi AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:35.714 + 0.956 2 10. Mucke AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:35.896 + 1.138 2 11. Frentzen Audi A4 1:35.937 + 1.179 2 12. Kaffer Audi A4 1:35.978 + 1.220 6 13. Schneider AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:36.198 + 1.440 2 14. la Rosa AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:36.354 + 1.596 2 15. Green AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:36.461 + 1.703 2 16. Stippler Audi A4 1:36.471 + 1.713 2 17. Lauda AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:37.392 + 2.634 2 18. Stoddart AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:37.452 + 2.694 3 19. Ickx Audi A4 1:37.655 + 2.897 3 20. Margaritis AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 13:25.393 + 11:50.635 5
Afternoon times:
Pos Driver Make Time Laps 1. Frentzen Audi A4 1:34.487 28 2. Mucke AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:34.902 + 0.415 31 3. Spengler AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:34.910 + 0.423 33 4. Ekstrom Audi A4 1:34.911 + 0.424 30 5. la Rosa AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:34.917 + 0.430 29 6. Alesi AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:34.942 + 0.455 25 7. Kristensen Audi A4 1:34.947 + 0.460 34 8. Hakkinen AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:34.977 + 0.490 23 9. Kaffer Audi A4 1:34.980 + 0.493 20 10. Green AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:35.018 + 0.531 37 11. Margaritis AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:35.118 + 0.631 25 12. Scheider Audi A4 1:35.170 + 0.683 24 13. Schneider AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:35.202 + 0.715 30 14. Abt Audi A4 1:35.282 + 0.795 30 15. Tomczyk Audi A4 1:35.684 + 1.197 29 16. Kiesa Audi A4 1:35.952 + 1.465 35 17. Stoddart AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:36.038 + 1.551 27 18. Lauda AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 1:36.242 + 1.755 29 19. Stippler Audi A4 1:36.270 + 1.783 21 20. Ickx Audi A4 1:37.712 + 3.225 37
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