Photo: DTM

Mattias Ekström starts first free practice at Nürburgring on top

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Audi driver Mattias Ekström has started the penultimate DTM weekend of 2015 at the Nürburgring on top by being fastest in the first free practice session.

The Swede lapped the circuit in 1:23.679 and was closely followed by two BMW drivers in the form of Augusto Farfus Jr., 38 thousands of a second behind, and Marco Wittmann, 79 thousands of a second behind.

Tom Blomqvist made it three BMWs in the top five, with Paul Di Resta as the fastest Mercedes driver in fifth position, lapping 0.204 seconds slower than Ekström.

Lucas Auer claimed position seven for team ART Grand Prix, with António Félix da Costa rounding off the top eight for BMW, just over three tenths from the fastest time of the session.

Championship leader Christian Vietoris only managed 20th fastest time, just over seven tenths of a second behind title rival Ekström.

Next up is the second free practice session, starting at 16:15 CET.