Warm-up: Bernd laps even faster

This time he produced a 1m40.341s lap, over six tenths clear of the opposition led by AMG Mercedes team-mate Jean Alesi, the only other driver to dip into the 1m39s. Schneider says the balance of his CLK this weekend is "perfect" as he aims to put a poor performance, by his standards, behind him from the previous round.

Opel remains in the hunt, however, with no less than five of its Astra V8 Coupes in the top 10. Dutch rookie Jeroen Bleekemolen was back on the pace in third after making a hash of qualifying in his OPC Euroteam-run car, while Alain Menu was right behind him in his Holzer-run version. Behind fifth-placed Marcel Fassler (Mercedes), Opel trio Timo Scheider, Manuel Reuter and Peter Dumbreck (who came into the pits with a cone stuck to his car!) backed up its strong challenge.

The Abt Sportsline Audi squad has endured a difficult weekend so far, and didn't quite look at the races this morning. Laurent Aiello, who is driving Martin Tomczyk's TT-R after trashing his own on Friday, was 10th fastest, one spot behind series leader Christijan Albers (Mercedes).

The race starts at 14.00 local time (13.00 BST).


Bernd Schneider (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m39.341s
Jean Alesi (F) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m39.949s
Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL) Euroteam Opel Astra V8 Coupe, 1m40.003s
Alain Menu (CH) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m40.009s
Marcel Fässler (CH) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m40.049s
Timo Scheider (D) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m40.159s
Manuel Reuter (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m40.231s
Peter Dumbreck (GB) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m40.233s
Christijan Albers (NL) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m40.275s
Laurent Aiello (F) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m40.330s