Saturday test: Ekstrom rebounds
Audi's Mattias Ekstrom bounced back to the top of the DTM timesheets on Saturday morning, ahead of qualifying for the third round of the series at the Nurburgring
Ekstrom, who topped Friday's first test session, set the fastest lap of the weekend so far in his Abt Sportsline-run TT-R at 1m25.575s. Alain Menu was the best of the rest, showing his pace from yesterday was no fluke in his Holzer-run Opel Astra, although he was two-tenths down on the Swede's top time.
Yesterday's pacesetter Bernd Schneider was third fastest for Mercedes, ahead of reigning champion Laurent Aiello and his Audi colleague Christian Abt. Marcel Fassler and Christijan Albers were next up for AMG Mercedes, ahead of the Phoenix-run Opels of Peter Dumbreck and Timo Scheider.
Jean Alesi was 10th, and his session included a wild slide over the kerbs of the recently reshaped NGK chicane.
Qualifying begins at 13:00 local time (12:00 BST) with the top 10 Super Pole session due to kick off at half past the hour.
Mattias Ekstrom (S) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m25.575s
Alain Menu (CH) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m25.720s
Bernd Schneider (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m25.791s
Laurent Aiello (F) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m25.843s
Christian Abt (D) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m25.855s
Marcel Fässler (CH) AMG Mercedes-Bend CLK, 1m25.973s
Christijan Albers (NL) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m26.032s
Peter Dumbreck (GB) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m26.038s
Timo Scheider (D) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m26.146s
Jean Alesi (F) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m26.224s
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Ekstrom replaces injured Sainz for Extreme E season
Friday favourite: The all-round ace with an "obsession for perfection"
Ekstrom praises Cupra Racing team after winning Pure ETCR title
The plot twist that gave Arrow McLaren’s Ward his first IndyCar win as team principal
Formula E’s new Gen3 Evo car breaks cover
The weekly reality check that has kept MotoGP hype off of Acosta so far in 2024
F2 veteran Ghiotto to make IndyCar debut with Dale Coyne Racing at Barber
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
How the DTM has come back stronger from its Norisring nadir
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments