DTM Lausitzring, free practice: Fassler fastest

The Swiss's time, set on his final flying lap, pushed DTM points-leader Bernd Schneider into second place by just 0.051s. Thomas Jager completed a Mercedes one-two-three, with Uwe Alzen the lone Opel in a top six dominated by the Stuttgart marque. Six of the top 10 slots were taken by Mercedes.

Top British driver was Persson Mercedes junior Peter Dumbreck, who set the sixth fastest time late in the second session. Rosberg Mercedes driver Darren Turner finished the morning 11th overall, just 0.046s behind team mate Pedro Lamy, with James Thompson 20th and last in his Abt-run Audi TT-R after mechanical problems.

Despite some minor quibbles over the positions of some kerbs and the 'Mickey Mouse' nature of a couple of corners on the infield complex, most drivers have given the all-new facility a thumbs-up, but several of the big names are still struggling to come to terms with the track - most notably Opel's Jo Winkelhock, who languished in 17th after a session punctuated by spins.

Opel topped the times in the first hour of free practice, with Uwe Alzen headingThomas Jager's Mercedes by 0.834s. But with the combined oval/infield track still damp for most of the session, Mercedes prefered to keep its powder dry until the second session.

Despite Mercedes and Opel sharing the spoils in the usual manner, it wasn't all bad news for perennial tail-enders Audi. With 40 minutes of the first hour-long session gone, it had been double-take time: the Abt-run TT-Rs held the top three slots on the time sheets, with Christian Abt edging James Thompson and Laurent Aiello in the order.

Session two saw normality return, with the squad filling the last four places, but nevertheless it was another confidence-boosting chink of light for the DTM's strugglers.

The grid for tomorrow's first race will be decided by a single hour of qualifying begiining at 1300 BST (1400 local time). The grid for race two will be based on the race one finishing order.


(damp but drying track)
1 Uwe Alzen, Opel, 1m44.933s
2 Thomas Jager, Mercedes, 1m45.767s
3 Jo Winkelhock, Opel, 1m45.798s
4 Marcel Fassler, Mercedes, 1m45.826s
5 Eric Helary, Opel, 1m45.833s
6 Bernd Schneider, Mercedes, 1m46.183s
7 Manuel Reuter, Opel, 1m46.398s
8 Laurent Aiello, Audi, 1m46.555s
9 Stefano Modena, Opel, 1m46.635s
10 Klaus Ludwig, Mercedes, 1m46.669s


(dry track)
1 Marcel Fassler, Mercedes, 1m43.108s
2 Bernd Schneider, Mercedes, 1m43.159s
3 Thomas Jager, Mercedes, 1m43.579s
4 Uwe Alzen, Opel, 1m43.605s
5 Klaus Ludwig, Mercedes, 1m43.698s
6 Peter Dumbreck, Mercedes, 1m43.825s
7 Manuel Reuter, Opel, 1m43.956s
8 Eric Helary, Opel, 1m43.958s
9 Timo Scheider, Opel, 1m44.105s
10 Pedro Lamy, Mercedes, 1m44.114s

Other selected session two times
11 Darren Turner, Mercedes, 1m44.160s
17, Christian Abt, Audi, 1m44.814s
20, James Thompson, Audi, 1m47.238s