Warm-up: Menu leads the way

Torrential morning rain meant the track was soaked when the session began, but it slowly dried throughout the session. Bernd Schneider (Mercedes) was the pacesetter for much of the period, but Menu's last lap flyer stated Opel's intent on ending its disappointing season on a high. The Swiss will start today's race from 10th on the grid, however, so he will have his work cut out to challenge for honours.

Timo Scheider was third fastest in the second Opel, ahead of Mattias Ekstrom (Audi), Manuel Reuter (Opel) and champion-elect Laurent Aiello (Audi). Former F1 stars Jean Alesi (Mercedes) and Karl Wendlinger (Audi) were next up.

The weather forecast for today is a mixture of sunshine and showers, so expect fireworks as another action-packed season draws to a close.


Alain Menu (CH) Euroteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m50.161s
Bernd Schneider (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, +0.151s
Timo Scheider (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, +0.762s
Mattias Ekström (S) Abt-Audi TT-R, +0.801s
Manuel Reuter (D) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupe, +0.875s
Laurent Aiello (F) Abt-Audi TT-R, +0.995s
Jean Alesi (F) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, +1.283s
Karl Wendlinger (A) Abt-Audi TT-R, +1.694s
Michael Bartels (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, +1.964s
Christian Abt (D) Abt-Audi TT-R, +2.031s