Practice 1: Ekstrom quick again
After taking his first DTM win in the sprint race at Norisring two weeks ago, Audi driver Mattias Ekstrom continued his strong form by setting the pace in the first free practice session at Lausitzring today (Friday)
The Swede lapped the east German track in 1m40.076s, three tenths faster than the Mercedes of Marcel Fassler. The Swiss was the quickest of three CLKs, with Bernd Schneider next up followed by the impressive Thomas Jager, who was just over a tenth behind the reigning champion in a 2001-spec car.
Peter Dumbrek underlined the competitiveness of the year-old Mercedes by setting the seventh best time, while Dutchman Patrick Huisman made it three 2001 CLKs in the top 10 with the ninth quickest time. In contrast, Jean Alesi was back in 12th, while Uwe Alzen was 18th in 2002-spec cars. The latter was 1.3s down on Ekstrom's time.
Manuel Reuter was the quickest Opel driver in fifth, while championship leader Laurent Aiello was eighth despite doing just four laps.
Mattias Ekstrom Abt-Audi TT-R 1m40.076s
Marcel Fassler Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m40.390s
Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m40.662s
Thomas Jager Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m40.817s
Manuel Reuter Opel Astra Coupe V8 1m40.953s
Martin Tomczyk Abt-Audi TT-R 1m41.022s
Peter Dumbrek Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m41.029s
Laurent Aiello Abt-Audi TT-R 1m41.095s
Patrick Huisman Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m41.120s
Alain Menu Opel Astra Coupe V8 1m41.145s
Karl Wendlinger Abt-Audi TT-R 1m41.175s
Jean Alesi Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m41.224s
Michael Bartels Opel Astra Coupe V8 1m41.227s
Timo Scheider Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m41.249s
Bernd Maylander Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m41.274s
Christian Abt Abt-Audi TT-R 1m41.309s
Joachim Winkelhock Opel Astra Coupe V8 1m41.409s
Uwe Alzen Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m41.415s
Stefan Mucke Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m41.416s
Yves Olivier Opel Astra Coupe V8 1m41.936s
Christian Albers Mercedes-Benz CLK 1m42.019s
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