Audi tops last day of testing

Kristensen, three times a Le Mans 24 Hours winner with Audi, set the quickest time of all four days of the first official test in his A4, eclipsing the efforts of his team-mates Frank Biela and Christian Abt, who locked out the second row on day three.

Audi's success, its first as a works DTM team, sets up a great championship - Opel's new Vectra GTS V8 proved its calibre by going fastest during the first two days of the test, while 2003 championship runner-up Christijan Albers showed well in the tests in Mercedes' new C-Class machine.

Dane Kristensen said: "After all these years in sportscars, I had completely forgotten how close the times can be. Of course, I am glad about my quickest time, because it makes me certain I can be in the leading pack. But we won't know our precise position until Hockenheim.

"This was a very successful test in Estoril. The Audi A4 showed no technical difficulties whatsoever, the team worked perfectly, and we were able to do our test programme just as planned."

Another big name rookie who made an impression in Portugal was Opel's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who was the quickest man on the track two days running. He said: "The Vevtra responds very well to any changes and we were able to work constantly on set-up. For me, it is also great to get to know my DTM colleagues here."

Albers meanwhile, was delighted with the new C-Class Mercedes, but refrained from making any bold predictions. "The first test went very well," he said. "The new C-Class runs as reliably as Swiss clockwork. Making forecasts at such an early time is very difficult. We will know more after Hockenheim."

The DTM championship will be launched in Hamburg on March 30, with the first race at Hockenheim on April 17/18.