Martin Tomczyk fastest in Shanghai first practice

Martin Tomczyk topped the first free practice session on the Shanghai street circuit. The Audi-driver was follwed by the two title contenders Paul Di Resta and Gary Paffet in second and third.

The short and fast track provided close times with the top three separated by just 0.058 seconds.

Miguel Molina was second best Audi-driver in fourth ahead of Maro Engel and championship leader Bruno Spengler.

Engel crashed hard with five minutes left of the session. The Mercedes-driver hit the wall at the end of the lap, skidding across the track and hitting the pit wall. Engel was fortunately unhurt while his Mercedes C-Class is going to take a lot of repairs before being ready to go on track again.

Previous race winner Timo Scheider headed Markus Winkelhock and Oliver Jarvis. Former Formula One-driver David Coulthard rounded off top ten, just over half a second behind the fastest time of the session.