Timo Glock goes fastest in damp first free practice at Hockenheim

BMW Team RMG driver Timo Glock set the fastest lap time in a difficult first free practice session of the DTM season finale at Hockenheim, with heavy rain falling during the first joint competitive session between the DTM and Japanese Super GT cars.

Nick Cassidy was at the centre of the first incident of the session, missing the braking point and going straight at the Sachs corner, hitting the barriers. The Lexus LC500 was recovered, with Tsuyo Matsuda having similar luck minutes later at the same point, driving the Nissan GT-R. Both cars escaped major damage and were allowed to continue running the the session.

In the last minutes the rain got heavier, with Audi Sport Team Phoenix’s Loïc Duval going wide at the Sachs corner and BMW Team RBM’s Sheldon van der Linde spinning at Turn 8.

Glock climbed to the top in the last moments of the session with a time of 1:47.841, beating team-mate Marco Wittmann by 0.169 seconds, with Audi Sport Team Phoenix’s Mike Rockenfeller in third.

Van der Linde still managed to have a productive session in fourth position, half a second off the pace, followed by crowned champion René Rast in the Audi RS 5 DTM from Team Rosberg.

Jake Dennis was the fastest driver for R-Motorsport in sixth position in his Aston Martin Vantage DTM, with BMW Team RBM’s Joel Eriksson in seventh place.

Team Abt Sportsline drivers Robin Frijns and Nico Müller followed, with R-Motorsport’s Paul di Resta completing the top ten, 1.1 seconds off the pace.

Jenson Button was the fastest among the Super GT drivers in 16th position in his Honda NSX-GT, 2.648 seconds behind Glock, with Matsuda and Cassidy at the bottom of the classification.

The second free practice session is scheduled for 17:00 CEST.