BMW dominates shortened free practice at Lausitzring

Critical weather conditions, with heavy fog present all day, tampered with the normal schedule for the DTM, reducing drastically preparation time for drivers and teams. Officials managed just one 15-minute free practice session to be slotted into the altered timetable, in order to maintain the original 16:45 time for the qualifying session.

Cars lined eagerly at the end of the pit lane waiting for the green light in a session marked by a damped track.

Timo Scheider was an early leader, with an initial time of 1.30.923, but times started to plummet as the racing line dried out.

Mike Rockenfeller, Paul di Resta and Christian Vietoris improved lap times in quick succession, with the Mercedes drivers seeming to have an advantage in the difficult conditions.

Miguel Molina was the first driver to change into slicks, with just six minutes to the end of the brief session, with Dani Juncadella, Timo Glock, Marco Wittmann and others following suit. The move put Molina at the top of the timesheets briefly, despite sliding on the wetter sections of the track. Vietoris and Farfus also visited the top spot of the classification.

Marco Wittmann set a new fastest time with just over a minute to go, improving his time on the next lap, leaving his rivals to play catch up. With the chequered flag already out, Augusto Farfus climbed to the first position, with a time of 1:22.622, followed by Wittmann 0.215 seconds adrift. Timo Glock claimed third position, making it an all three top finishers for BMW.

Daniel Juncadella was the best Mercedes driver on fourth position, whilst Miguel Molina, eighth, was the top man for Audi.

Qualifying will take place at 16:45 CEST.