Photo: DTM Media

Nico Müller tops second free practice in Moscow

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Audi Sport Team Abt driver Nico Müller was the fastest man around the Moscow Raceway, host of the sixth round of the 2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season, in the second free practice session held this morning.

Rain and a wet track welcomed the DTM field this morning. Although the track improved throughout the session, wet tyres were required during the 30 minutes.

Mike Rockenfeller was the first man out to set a fastest lap, which was quickly improved by fellow Audi driver Edoardo Mortara. Timo Scheider, from Team Phoenix, climbed to the top of the classification followed by Jamie Green.

Lap times were improving constantly, with Nico Müller going first and Gary Paffett climbing up to third place for Mercedes AMG.

After 10 minutes, BMW’s Bruno Spengler, who was in tenth place, spun off the track and was stuck on the gravel trap. A slow zone was activated whilst the Canadian’s M4 DTM was being recovered. Finally, the marshals managed to get the car back on the tarmac, with Spengler returning to the pits.

With the track fully operational again, Jamie Green went fastest, but had a close challenge from the Mercedes AMG drivers, with Paul Di Resta and Gary Paffett improving on him. Mattias Ekström was third, with Green nest, followed by Maximilian Götz and Maxime Martin.

Nico Müller managed to improve again with a time of 1:44.990, the first one to break the 1:45 barrier. With five minutes to go, Bruno Spengler spun out again, causing a new slow zone.

On his very last lap, Nico Müller had a further improvement of 1:44.570, ahead of Mercedes’ Paul Di Resta. Mattias Ekström and Jamie Green followed for Audi Sport, with Gary Paffett and Robert Wickens next. Edoardo Mortara was seventh for Audi Sport, 1.090 seconds off the pace.

Felix Rosenqvist had a good session at the wheel of the C63 DTM from Team ART, finishing in eighth position. Maximilian Götz was ninth, with Mike Rockenfeller completing the top ten.

Timo Glock was, in 11th position, the fastest man for BMW Motorsport, 1.506 seconds behind Müller.

The DTM has a very tight timetable, with qualifying for Race 1 next at 11:10 local time.