Saturday practice: Schneider fights back
AMG Mercedes star Bernd Schneider signalled that he's not ready just yet to surrender his DTM title to Abt Audi's Laurent Aiello by setting the pace in the final free practice session before qualifying at the A1-Ring in Austria today (Saturday)
Schneider lapped in 1m27.249s, just a tenth quicker than Aiello with Friday pacesetter Mattias Ekstrom's Audi in third. Ex-Formula 1 star Jean Alesi was next up in his AMG Mercedes, heading a trio of Opel Astras comprising Timo Scheider, Alain Menu and Manuel Reuter.
Opel's new recruit, JJ Lehto, continues to get to grips with the latest generation of the DTM. He was 17th fastest in his Astra V8 Coupe, almost 1.5secs off the quickest time.
Local hero Karl Wendlinger was closer to the pace in his Audi, the Austrian eighth quickest ahead of Joachim Winkelhock (Opel) and Uwe Alzen, the latter losing a chunk of track time with a gravelly off at the Gosser Kurve.
Bernd Schneider (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m27.249s
Laurent Aiello (F) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m27.376s
Mattias Ekström (S) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m27.457s
Jean Alesi (F) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m27.626s
Timo Scheider (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m27.671s
Alain Menu (CH) Euroteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m27.784s
Manuel Reuter (D) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupe, 1m27.838s
Karl Wendlinger (A) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m27.941s
Joachim Winkelhock (D) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m28.042s
Uwe Alzen (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m28.112s
Martin Tomczyk (D) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m28.262s
Marcel Fässler (CH) AMG Mercedes-Bend CLK, 1m28.324s
Michael Bartels (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m28.406s
Thomas Jäger (D) Persson Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m28.491s
Christian Abt (D) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m28.537s
Bernd Maylander (D) Manthey Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m28.627s
JJ Lehto (F) Eutoteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m28.722s
Christijan Albers (NL) Rosberg Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m28.782s
Stefan Mücke (D) Rosberg Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m28.852s
Peter Dumbreck (GB) Persson Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m28.870s
Patrick Huisman (NL) Manthey Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m28.934s
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