Jarvis fastest in practice at Zandvoort

The British driver took the top spot with four minutes remaining of the two and a half-hour session, which had started in tricky damp conditions but eventually dried out.

Former Zandvoort winner Martin Tomczyk moved up to second in the final minute, while Tom Kristensen - who has also won at the Dutch track in the past - made it an Audi 1-2-3.

After being the fastest man overall for a long period, Maro Engel eventually put his one-year-old Mercedes fourth quickest, while a late effort from Bruno Spengler to grab fifth was a bright spot for the HWA-Mercedes squad.

The 2009-spec Mercedes, which are 10 kilograms heavier than the '09 Audis this weekend, rarely threatened the top of the order, at a track where Audi traditionally has an advantage due its aero performance in longer corners.

There were another four Audis between Spengler and Gary Paffett, who was the only other Mercedes driver to squeeze into the top 10. Meanwhile their team-mates Paul di Resta and Ralf Schumacher had to settle for 13th and 14th respectively.

Pos Driver                 Car           Time          Gap
 1. Oliver Jarvis          Audi          1m32.011s
 2. Martin Tomczyk         Audi          1m32.175s  +0.164
 3. Tom Kristensen         Audi          1m32.366s  +0.355
 4. Maro Engel             Mercedes      1m32.376s  +0.365
 5. Bruno Spengler         Mercedes      1m32.392s  +0.381
 6. Markus Winkelhock      Audi          1m32.407s  +0.396
 7. Mike Rockenfeller      Audi          1m32.436s  +0.425
 8. Mattias Ekstrom        Audi          1m32.561s  +0.550
 9. Timo Scheider          Audi          1m32.891s  +0.880
10. Gary Paffett           Mercedes      1m32.996s  +0.985
11. Mathias Lauda          Mercedes      1m33.087s  +1.076
12. Susie Stoddart         Mercedes      1m33.121s  +1.110
13. Paul di Resta          Mercedes      1m33.330s  +1.319
14. Ralf Schumacher        Mercedes      1m33.349s  +1.338
15. Jamie Green            Mercedes      1m33.432s  +1.421
16. Christian Bakkerud     Audi          1m33.715s  +1.704
17. Katherine Legge        Audi          1m33.735s  +1.724
18. Alexandre Premat       Audi          1m33.965s  +1.954
19. Tomas Kostka           Audi          1m34.086s  +2.075