Lucas Auer fastest in close second practice at Norisring
Mercedes AMG driver Lucas Auer set the fastest lap of the second free practice session at Norisring this morning, with the Stuttgart-based manufacturer placing five cars in the top nine positions.
Auer was the very last driver to go on track, spending the first ten minutes of the session in his pit garage. The Austrian set a best lap-time of 47.814 under cloudy conditions. Standings leader and Audi driver René Rast was second 0.143 seconds off the pace, with Auer’s team-mate Gary Paffett in third, two-tenths slower.
Audi drivers Mike Rockenfeller and Nico Müller followed in a very close session, with BMW’s Bruno Spengler just a thousandth of a second behind the Swiss driver in sixth place.
A Mercedes squad formed by Edoardo Mortara, Robert Wickens and Maro Engel followed, with Audi driver Mattias Ekström completing the top ten over three tenths off Auer’s time.
The only incident of the session took place three minutes into it, when BMW’s Augusto Farfus was released from his pit stop right in front of Rast. As both accelerated, a loose wheel from the Mercedes Team crossed the pit lane right in front of them, with no damage to either.
Qualifying for Race 1 is scheduled for 11:20 CET.
