Mattias Ekstrom puts Audi on top as 2017 tyres appear in DTM test

BMW drivers Augusto Farfus and Tom Blomqvist had topped the first two days of the only official running before the 2016 season starts at the circuit next month.

One of three drivers testing potential 2017 DTM tyres for Hankook, two-time champion Ekstrom topped the Thursday times with a 1m32.964s lap set in the afternoon.

The morning session was wet, with another driver testing for Hankook, Mercedes' Daniel Juncadella, leading the way.

In dry conditions, Juncadella finished the afternoon as Ekstrom's closest challenger, 0.177 seconds behind, while BMW's Martin Tomczyk was third.

Timo Scheider and Miguel Molina were fourth and fifth, ahead of Mercedes' Gary Paffett.

Marco Wittmann and Bruno Spengler took seventh and eighth, with Adrien Tambay and Nico Muller completing the top 10.

Mercedes finished with three of the bottom five drivers, as the Hankook running took the tally of drivers in action from 12 to 15.

Robert Wickens and Paul di Resta were 11th and 12th - but only three tenths off Paffett's lap - while Christian Vietoris rounded out the order, 1.339s slower than Ekstrom.

The test concludes on Friday.

MORNING TIMES

AFTERNOON TIMES