Photo: DTM Media

Robert Wickens tops second free practice session at Norisring

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DTM championship leader Robert Wickens staged a late dash to top the times in the second free practice session at Norisring, with Lucas Auer making it a Mercedes one-two ahead of circuit specialist Jamie Green.

Team HWA’s Wickens was one of a flurry of late improvers in the final five minutes of the session, eventually setting the benchmark 48.570 with two minutes to go in his C63 AMG.

Team Mücke’s Auer left it even later to set his personal best, knocking the Audi RS 5 of Team Rosberg’s Green down to third with 42 seconds left on the clock. Mattias Ekstrom was another late improver in the second of the Audis in fourth, with Team RMG’s Marco Wittman the best of the BMW M4s in fifth.

Audi’s Edoardo Mortara and Adrien Tambay, BMW’s Bruno Spengler, Audi’s Nico Müller and BMW’s Timo Glock rounded out the top 10.

It was another extremely tight session, with just 0.660s separating Wickens from the 24th placed car, the BMW Team Schnitzer entry of Martin Tomczyk.

Tambay had held top spot for much of the half hour, before the times started to tumble in the dying embers of the session. First, Wickens jumped to the top with five minutes left on the clock, before he was deposed by Green with three to go.

Wickens regained control with two minutes left, a time which would prove to be good enough for P1.

Next up for the DTM is qualifying for race one, which takes place at 11.05 CET.