Bruno Spengler puts BMW on top in Hockenheim DTM practice

The manufacturer, which is returning to the championship this weekend after 20 years away, was off the pace during Friday's opening session, but had one or more of its M3 DTMs near or at the front throughout the 90 minutes.

Andy Priaulx and Joey Hand both spent time occupying the top spot within the second half of the session, but it was Spengler who wound up fastest; the Schnitzer driver's 1m33.512s lap the fastest of the weekend so far.

The man Spengler knocked off the top was Rosberg Audi driver Edoardo Mortara, who continued the strong from shown by his team-mate Filipe Albuquerque on Friday. The Italian was just 0.007s slower than Spengler.

Mattias Ekstrom - who had one nervy moment when he outbraked himself and went straight on at the Spitzkehre - and Mike Rockenfeller were third and fourth, and less than a tenth off the pace for the Abt and Phoenix teams respectively, with Albuquerque next up to ensure Audi drivers took four of the top five positions.

Jamie Green was the best Mercedes driver in sixth for HWA, ahead of Timo Scheider (Abt), Miguel Molina (Phoenix), Christian Vietoris (HWA), and Hand, who was the top rookie in his RMG BMW.

Champion Martin Tomczyk had an off-track moment at the Spitzkehre in his RMG BMW on his way to 18th spot while Roberto Merhi, 16th in his Persson Mercedes, went off three times, each without drama or a spin.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car           Time        Gap 
 1.  Bruno Spengler      Schnitzer BMW      1m33.512s
 2.  Edoardo Mortara     Rosberg Audi       1m33.519s  + 0.007s
 3.  Mattias Ekström     Abt Audi           1m33.546s  + 0.034s
 4.  Mike Rockenfeller   Phoenix Audi       1m33.582s  + 0.070s
 5.  Filipe Albuquerque  Rosberg Audi       1m33.771s  + 0.259s
 6.  Jamie Green         HWA Mercedes       1m33.781s  + 0.269s
 7.  Timo Scheider       Abt Audi           1m33.811s  + 0.299s
 8.  Miguel Molina       Phoenix Audi       1m33.870s  + 0.358s
 9.  Christian Vietoris  HWA Mercedes       1m33.927s  + 0.415s
10.  Joey Hand           RMG BMW            1m33.928s  + 0.416s
11.  Dirk Werner         Schnitzer BMW      1m33.983s  + 0.471s
12.  Andy Priaulx        RBM BMW            1m34.000s  + 0.488s
13.  Gary Paffett        HWA Mercedes       1m34.122s  + 0.610s
14.  Augusto Farfus      RMG BMW            1m34.201s  + 0.689s
15.  Adrien Tambay       Abt Audi           1m34.225s  + 0.713s
16.  Roberto Merhi       Persson Mercedes   1m34.451s  + 0.939s
17.  Ralf Schumacher     HWA Mercedes       1m34.465s  + 0.953s
18.  Martin Tomczyk      RMG BMW            1m34.495s  + 0.983s
19.  Robert Wickens      Mucke Mercedes     1m34.810s  + 1.298s
20.  David Coulthard     Mucke Mercedes     1m34.919s  + 1.407s
21.  Susie Wolff         Persson Mercedes   1m35.036s  + 1.524s
22.  Rahel Frey          Abt Audi           1m35.381s  + 1.869s