The DTM already beats in Hockenheim, the usual scene of the closing of the championship and that on this occasion it hosts the penultimate appointment of the first GT3 season of the contest. With two free practice sessions, drivers and teams have been able to stretch out in a setting known to almost everyone. A circuit that at the moment produces different variables and alternations, at least in free practice on Friday. In fact, Arjun Maini and Kelvin Van der Linde shared the best times of the two free practice sessions, thus placing at the top the GT3 of Mercedes and Audi respectively. Good start also from Dani Juncadella.
The first free practice session ended with a double for Mercedes thanks to the work of Arjun Maini and Vincent Abril. In the case of the Indian driver, Maini was able to set a better lap in 1: 38.356 with the # 36 Mercedes from GetSpeed. Somewhat more than a tenth slower has been the Monegasque Vincent Abril, while Nico Müller finished third with the best Audi. Not far behind the Swiss, Lucas Auer finished, while Mike Rockenfeller finished fifth. As a positive note and as a contrast, rookie Lucas Di Grassi has set a surprising sixth fastest time.
The second session has also been written around this alternation between Mercedes and AudiAlthough the best time was for one of the drivers from the Ingolstadt firm. Reinforcing its intention to regain the leadership lost in Assen, South African Kelvin Van der Linde closed the day with the best time after scoring a best turn in 1: 37.841. In fact, the Abt rider has endorsed four tenths to the Spanish Dani Juncadella. All in all, the Catalan rider has signed a very good performance that invites hope for the rest of the weekend.
Sharing colors with Dani, who does not team, Maximilian Götz finished in third place, although he has yielded more than half a second with the leader of FP2. All in all, the work of the German and the good work of Vincent Abril have allowed three Mercedes-AMGs to have finished within the ‘top 5’ by leaving Mike Rockenfeller behind. This time, Nico Müller has been sixth, while Philip Ellis has finished in seventh position. Lucas Auer finished in eighth place, while Lucas Di Grassi confirmed his good feelings at the end of ninth with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 from Abt.