Christian Vietoris tops first free practice at Nürburgring
Mercedes AMG driver Christian Vietoris was the fastest man on track on the first free practice session at the Nürburgring, which kicks off the seventh round of the 2016 DTM season.
The Team Mücke driver set a best lap of 1:23.838 in his C63 DTM. Fellow Mercedes driver and main contender for the title for the Stuttgart manufacturer Robert Wickens was second, 0.078 seconds behind Vietoris.
Marco Wittmann was the fastest man for BMW Motorsport in third place, 0.084 seconds off the pace, with Felix Rosenqvist in fourth for Mercedes.
Edoardo Mortara was fifth in his RS 5 DTM, followed by fellow Audi driver Nico Müller. Paul di Resta came next, with Audi’s Timo Scheider in eighth place, after a competitive session where the former champion was always within the top ten.
Gary Paffett led the early stages of the session, but ended up in ninth place, 0.423 seconds off the pace at the wheel of his Mercedes AMG. Augusto Farfus completed the top ten for BMW Motorsport.
Jamie Green, who is the best placed man in the championship for Audi Sport in third place, had a discrete session, finishing in 17th place, 0.799 seconds behind Vietoris.
There were no significant incidents during the session, with a few drivers braking late at Turn 9. Mercedes AMG’s Maximilian Götz had to take the escape route at the chicane with no further consequences. The session finished with the practice starts at the main straight.
The DTM goes back on track tomorrow at 10:45 for the second free practice session.
