Warm-up: Schneider gets ready to rumble

On a damp but drying track, the D2 AMG Mercedes ace lapped Hockenheim's short circuit in 1m03.097s, half a second clear of Uwe Alzen's similar Warsteiner-backed machine. Alzen's team mate Marcel Fassler was third fastest, ahead of Bernd Maylander and Peter Dumbreck.

The first non-Merc was Christian Abt's sixth placed Audi TT-R, which headed Patrick Huisman - who went off at the first corner in his Merc - the second Audi of Sweden's Mattias Ekstrom and the leading Opel Astra of Manuel Reuter. Darren Turner ended his session in the gravel at the Mobil Kurve.

The first DTM qualifying race, which decides the grid for the main race, gets underway at 15.15 local time (14.15 BST). The rain that has plagued the meeting so far appears to have cleared away.


Bernd Schneider, 2001 D2 Mercedes CLK, 1m03.097s
Uwe Alzen, 2001 Warsteiner Mercedes CLK, 1m03.551s
Marcel Fassler, 2001 Warsteiner Mercedes CLK, 1m03.713s
Bernd Maylander, 2001 Eschmann-Manthey Mercedes CLK, 1m03.965s
Peter Dumbreck, 2001 D2 Mercedes CLK, 1m04.331s
Christian Abt, 2001 Abt Sportsline Audi TT-R 1m04.545s
Patrick Huisman, 2001 Eschmann-Manthey Mercedes CLK, 1m04.763s
Mattias Ekstrom, Abt Sportsline Audi TT-R, 1m04.839s
Manuel Reuter, 2001 Phoenix Opel Astra Coupe, 1m04.997s
Laurent Aiello, 2001 Abt Sportsline Audi TT-R, 1m05.011s