Portuguese driver Felipe Albuquerque put his Audi A5 DTM on top of the timing sheets today during the first practice session for the opening round of the 2012 DTM series in Hockenheim, Germany.
Albuquerque emerged fastest of the 22 drivers with a quick time of 1m34.508 set during the second half of the session. The temperature was warm, but the skies were grey and a few drops of rain fell twice during the session.
Mike Rockenfeller, also driving for Audi, was second quickest, just 0.016 second behind Albuquerque. Edoardo Mortara was third, ahead of Timo Scheider, Miguel Molina and Mattias Ekstrom, making it an impressive six-in-a-row for Audi.
The fastest Mercedes C-Coupe was the car of McLaren F1 test driver Gary Paffett in seventh place, 0.331 second down to Albuquerque.
Series' newcomer Robert Wickens of Canada did very well, raking eighth overall and second fastest Mercedes in the Stern car. Wickens is the reigning champion of the Formula Renault 3.5 single seater series.
However, it was a difficult day for BMW, making a return to DTM after a long absence.
The quickest BMW runner was Andy Priaulx who set the 13th time in his BMW M3, ahead of the sister cars of Canadian Bruno Spengler and reigning DTM champion, Martin Tomczyk.
Priaulx set a time of 1m35.389, 0.881 second slower than the leading Audi.
Qualifying will take place tomorrow afternoon, German time, and Auto123.com will provide live coverage of the timed session.
Albuquerque emerged fastest of the 22 drivers with a quick time of 1m34.508 set during the second half of the session. The temperature was warm, but the skies were grey and a few drops of rain fell twice during the session.
Mike Rockenfeller, also driving for Audi, was second quickest, just 0.016 second behind Albuquerque. Edoardo Mortara was third, ahead of Timo Scheider, Miguel Molina and Mattias Ekstrom, making it an impressive six-in-a-row for Audi.
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| Mike Rockenfeller, Audi. (Photo: René Fagnan/Auto123.com) |
The fastest Mercedes C-Coupe was the car of McLaren F1 test driver Gary Paffett in seventh place, 0.331 second down to Albuquerque.
Series' newcomer Robert Wickens of Canada did very well, raking eighth overall and second fastest Mercedes in the Stern car. Wickens is the reigning champion of the Formula Renault 3.5 single seater series.
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| Robert Wickens, Mercedes. (Photo: René Fagnan/Auto123.com) |
However, it was a difficult day for BMW, making a return to DTM after a long absence.
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| Bruno Spengler, BMW. (Photo: René Fagnan/Auto123.com) |
The quickest BMW runner was Andy Priaulx who set the 13th time in his BMW M3, ahead of the sister cars of Canadian Bruno Spengler and reigning DTM champion, Martin Tomczyk.
Priaulx set a time of 1m35.389, 0.881 second slower than the leading Audi.
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| Bruno Spengler, BMW. (Photo: René Fagnan/Auto123.com) |
Qualifying will take place tomorrow afternoon, German time, and Auto123.com will provide live coverage of the timed session.