René Rast rises to the top in final practice at Hockenheim
Reigning champion René Rast was the fastest driver in the third and final free practice session at Hockenheim at the wheel of his Audi RS 5 DTM.
The Audi drivers were on a mission to find the lost pace from yesterday, when the Ingolstadt-based cars were half a second off the pace. Drivers and teams were worried about finding the right setup as temperatures are set to be higher than yesterday, with a particular concern over tyre degradation.
Halfway through the session Audi’s Nico Müller touched the barriers at Turn 12, with the Slow Zone 3 activated, resulting in all running cars returning to the pits.
Action was live again with ten minutes to go, with René Rast climbing to the top of the time sheets with a lap time of 1:32.931, followed by fellow Audi driver Jamie Green 0.244 seconds behind.
Timo Glock was the fastest driver for BMW in third, with Gary Paffett again the quickest Mercedes AMG in fourth, 0.317 seconds off the pace.
Loïc Duval completed another good run to finish fifth, followed by Mercedes’ Lucas Auer and BMW’s Augusto Farfus. Paul Di Resta was eighth for Mercedes, albeit seven-tenths off the pace already, with Mike Rockenfeller immediately behind. Edoardo Mortara completed the top ten at the wheel of his Mercedes, 0.951 seconds off the pace.
Qualifying for Race 2 is scheduled for 11:25 CET.
