Day 4: Alzen leaps to the top

The German, who finished second in the title race last year, lapped the circuit in 1m19.258s, four tenths faster than the previous best time set by Warsteiner AMG Mercedes team-mate Marcel Fassler on Sunday. Three-time DTM champ Schneider, who drives for AMG's lead squad, was just 0.029s in arrears.

Opel have further cause for optimism as Timo Scheider set the third quickest time of the entire test at 1m19.495s, and had fellow Astra drivers Alain Menu and Manuel Reuter for close company.

"We concentrated on tuning the shock absorbers and achieved a lot, which is reflected in the times," said Scheider, while Menu commented: "My confidence in the car grows lap after lap."

Abt Sportsline's sole 2002 Audi TT-R completed a mammoth 181 laps in the hands of Karl Wendlinger, Mattias Ekstrom and Martin Tomczyk but was somewhat shy of the pace of the Mercs and Opels.


1 Uwe Alzen, AMG Mercedes, 1m19.258s
2 Bernd Schneider, AMG Mercedes, 1m19.287s
3 Timo Scheider, Holzer Opel, 1m19.495s
4 Alain Menu, Euroteam Opel, 1m19.563s
5 Manuel Reuter, Phoenix Opel, 1m19.571s