Nico Müller tops final day of testing in Estoril
The DTM drivers and teams were on duty today for the third and final day of testing at the Portuguese circuit of Estoril.
Strong winds and dry and sunny weather welcomed the DTM family today, seeing a lot of on track action, with all drivers completing well over 100 laps each.
Nico Müller and Audi Sport topped the time sheets with a best lap time of 1:32.443, which was also the absolute best from three days of testing. Teammate Timo Scheider wasn’t far behind, just 0.143 seconds off Müller’s register.
Gary Paffett completed his only day on track at Estoril, finishing third after 136 laps and a best time of 1:32.640, being the fastest Mercedes C63 DTM on track and overall after three days of testing.
Miguel Molina was fourth, with the Spaniard completing solid development and setup work at the wheel of the renewed Audi RS 5 DTM, being only 0.230 seconds off the pace.
Antonio Félix Da Costa, fifth, was the fastest BMW M4 DTM on track on the final day. Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport), Daniel Juncadella, Robert Wickens and Christian Vietoris (Mercedes) and Maxime Martin (BMW) completed the top 10.
Nico Müller had a positive feeling after the final day of testing: “It was great for me to be able to test for two full days. We don’t have a lot of testing opportunities in the DTM. Obviously, the weather hampered our testing program a little. But the items we checked off were positive.”
Gary Paffett was on duty for the first time since the end of the 2014 season, also getting to grips with his new team: “It was my first day with my new team – ART Grand Prix. We managed to complete some short and long runs. We collected a lot of data and posted some good lap times. I’m very satisfied with the way the day has gone.”
Antonio Félix Da Costa was happy to run in his home track, and finished the Estoril test as the fastest BMW man, setting in well in his new team: “We found the answers to some open issues over the course of the Friday, and that is always good. The cooperation with BMW Team Schnitzer is going very well.”
The third and final official DTM test before the start of the season will take place in Oschersleben, host of the seventh round of the season, from the 14th to the 16th of April.
