– Porsche dominance in Friday practice for the DTM in Oschersleben: After the disappointment at the Norisring and Thomas Preining’s threat of resignation due to the unsatisfactory Balance of Performance (BoP), the “Grello” driver set the fastest time in both free practice sessions at the start of the second half of the season.
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With a 1:22.425 in the qualifying simulation in the evening (FT1 result), he was slightly faster than just before noon, when Preining also had a new set of tires fitted (FT2 result). Second place – also in both sessions – went to his Manthey Porsche teammate Ricardo Feller, who was 0.081 seconds behind.
Behind the two Porsche drivers, a Lamborghini driver finished in both sessions: In the morning it was Grasser driver Mirko Bortolotti, who finished fifth in the daily standings and is a lone fighter this time due to Maximilian Paul’s retirement, while in the afternoon Abt driver Luca Engstler secured the role of pursuer in third place, 0.091 seconds behind.
Lamborghini and AMG in waiting, Gounon’s mishap
That the Lamborghini seems to be working is not entirely surprising, as almost all cars have to contend with a less favorable classification in Oschersleben compared to the Norisring (see BoP analysis), while the Temerario GT3 continues to be classified at the performance limit after the problems at the start of the season.
Last year’s winner Lucas Auer (+0.148) in the Landgraf Mercedes finished fourth, Maro Engel (+0.381) in the Winward Mercedes sixth – and Jules Gounon (+0.457), the next driver of the brand with the star, lined up in seventh place. In the first practice, the trio took places four to six, which also indicates good form.
The practice session didn’t start well for Gounon, who has been plagued by bad luck this year, as after a few minutes he limped his Winward Mercedes back to the pits with a problem at the right rear. “Something is broken on the car,” he reported via radio. “Or do I have a flat tire at the right rear?”
The problem actually turned out to be damage to a set of tires that had 21 laps on them.
Wittmann not entirely fit, but with qualifying simulation this time
Behind Gounon, drivers from the teams that were the only ones to test in Oschersleben last week lined up: Ben Dörr finished eighth in the Dörr McLaren, 0.518 seconds behind, while Marco Wittmann was the best BMW driver in eleventh place at Schubert’s home race, 0.628 seconds behind.
The Franconian is not entirely fit and is gritting his teeth this weekend on BMW’s bogey track despite an infection. As is well known, the tight corners do not suit the long M4 GT3 Evo at all. Teammate Kelvin van der Linde, who is fit again after his Norisring crash, finished 15th, 0.783 seconds behind.
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The two BMW drivers were among the few who opted not to use a new set of tires in the first practice. The qualifying simulation was carried out by both in the second practice this time, after Wittmann had foregone it at the Norisring – and the competition suspected a trick.
“It’s going to be really tough”: Big deficit for DTM leader Thiim
This time, DTM leader Nicki Thiim was behind: The Comtoyou Aston Martin driver, who has taken three pole positions and two wins in the last four DTM races, could not get beyond 16th place and was 0.820 seconds behind the fastest time. Teammate Nicolas Baert, who finished last, visibly struggled with his Vantage and went off track twice.
“I wouldn’t count them among the favorites, because it’s going to be really tough for the guys,” says ex-DTM champion Maximilian Götz, seeing the recently strong Aston Martin squad at ran.de at a disadvantage. “Where are those eight tenths supposed to come from?”
This could indicate that Oschersleben doesn’t really suit the car and that the weekend is an opportunity for Thiim’s pursuers to gain ground in the overall standings.
Emil Frey team not in the top 10 after BoP criticism
Whether Emil Frey Ferrari driver Matteo Cairoli, who is fourth in the championship, will succeed in this, however, is questionable: Technical director Jürg Flach described the BoP for the Ferrari as “not appropriate” in the run-up to the weekend – and although Oschersleben should actually suit the 296 GT3 Evo, his drivers did not finish in the front.
Thierry Vermeulen (+0.690) finished eleventh, Cairoli (+0.709) twelfth. And the fears for the Ford Mustang drivers could also come true: Arjun Maini (+0.929) and Finn Wiebelhaus (+1.003), who was one of the few to be faster with the new set of tires in the first practice, only finished 17th and 18th. The bulky US car also only partially harmonizes with the angular track layout.
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What the balance of power really looks like will be shown by the first qualifying session on Saturday at 9:20 AM (all info on TV times, stream etc.), which is particularly important in Oschersleben. This is because overtaking maneuvers are considered particularly difficult on the track in the Magdeburg Börde.
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