Practice 1: Opel out in front
Timo Scheider set the pace in the opening practice session for the DTM round at Zandvoort. The young Opel star stole the top spot from championship leader Laurent Aiello with his final lap, to head the times with a 1m50.629s
Opel has yet to win a race this season, but the Astra Coupe has started well at the former home of the Dutch GP, and its cars filled five of the top seven places.
Aiello's only championship rival Bernd Schneider was the quickest of the Mercedes runners in fifth place. The reigning DTM champion was just over four tenths shy of the ultimate pace.
Aside from Aiello in second, the only other Audi to feature in the top 10 was Christian Abt in eighth. The two young TT drivers, Mattias Ekstrom and Martin Tomczyk, both struggled and were near the foot of the times.
Local heros Christijan Albers and Patrick Huisman enjoyed mixed fortunes. Albers was the quickest of the 2001-spec Mercs in 11th, and ran in the top 10 for a large part of the session. In contrast, Huisman did just four laps and ended up back in 16th, one place behind Scot Peter Dumbrek.
Series newcomer Eric Helary was one of the busiest drivers in the morning session, racking up 27 laps in his Astra. He finished up in 17th place, with a best lap of 1m53.035s.
Timo Scheider Opel Team Holzer 26 1m50.629s
Laurent Aiello Team Abt Sportsline 20 1m50.665s
Manuel Reuter Opel Team Phoenix 24 1m50.979s
Alain Menu Opel Euroteam 30 1m51.039s
Bernd Schneider Mercedes-AMG/Vodafone 17 1m51.053s
Michael Bartles Opel Team Holzer 19 1m51.314s
Jo Winkelhock Opel Team Phoenix 22 1m51.521s
Christian Abt Team Abt Sportsline 24 1m51.563s
Jean Alesi Mercedes-AMG/Vodafone 18 1m51.665s
Uwe Alzen Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes 20 1m51.707s
Christijan Albers Service 24h AMG-Mercedes 16 1m51.882s
Bernd Maylander Mercedes-AMG/CEB-Oase 20 1m52.140s
Marcel Fassler Warsteiner AMG Mercedes 23 1m52.223s
Karl Wendlinger Team Abt 25 1m52.406s
Peter Dumbrek Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes 26 1m52.597s
Patrick Huisman Mercedes-AMG/CEB-Oase 4 1m53.012s
Eric Helary Opel Euroteam 27 1m53.035s
Thomas Jager Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes 24 1m53.300s
Mattias Ekstrom Team Abt 16 1m53.394s
Stefan Mucke Service 24h AMG-Mercedes 13 1m53.630s
Martin Tomczyk Team Abt Sportsline Junior 15 1m53.976s
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