Marco Wittmann tops first free practice in Zandvoort
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG) was the fastest driver in the first practice session held this morning in Circuit Park Zandvoort, start of the ninth round of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Mattias Ekstrom (Audi Team Abt Sportsline), who led the time sheets for most of the session, was second, with Timo Glock in third. The first three drivers finished within one tenth of a second.
The morning run was the drivers’ first contact with the track, as the traditional Friday roll out didn’t take place yesterday, due to the agreement between the circuit management and the neighbours to keep noise levels contained.
The session had to be red flagged after only six minutes, when Vitaly Petrov slammed his Mercedes AMG DTM on the wall. The Russian driver took the corner at excess speed, went onto the grass and lost control of the car. He wasn’t able to take any further part in the session.
The majority of drivers and teams focused on race setup, with Robert Wickens (Mercedes AMG) setting the early pace. The session was restarted with 38 minutes on the clock, and Mattias Ekstrom clocked the fastest time with 1:32.050, which had him topping the sheets for the majority of the session.
Other drivers who went beyond the limits of their machines were Augusto Farfus (BMW Team RBM) and Adrien Tambay (Audi Team Abt), going off track, but being able to rejoin without further problems.
Christian Vietoris sported Mercedes AMG’s new aero package, but he was only able to finish 14th. Robert Wickens was the fastest driver for the Stuttgart manufacturer, 11th and out of the top 10.
In the final minutes of the session, Marco Wittmann pipped Ekstrom for the first position, clocking a 1:32.002, just 48 thousands faster than the Swede.
The top-10 was shared between BMW and Audi, with five cars each, so the fight for the Manufacturers’ championship is full on.
Second free practice session will take place at 11:05, with qualifying scheduled for 14:45 in the afternoon.
