Rockenfeller goes fastest as Audi lock out top seven in second DTM practice at Lausitz
Mike Rockenfeller set the pace in the second free practice session for this weekend's Lausitz DTM round as Audis took the top seven positions on Saturday morning
The A5s dominated proceedings with Rosberg driver Filipe Albuquerque and then Abt's Mattias Ekstrom heading the timesheets during the closing stages of the 90-minute session.
Ekstrom's 1m18.694s lap was not good enough to keep him on top though as Rockenfeller took his Phoenix-run car to the top spot in 1m18.352s with 90 seconds remaining.
Ekstrom was then pushed further back as his team-mates Adrien Tambay and Timo Scheider nipped in front of the Swede; Scheider, who had earlier run off the track at Turn 1 and negotiated his way around the tyre barriers on the Lausitz oval, taking second place in a time just 0.117s slower than Rockenfeller.
Tambay was third with Albuquerque also getting in front of Ekstrom in the dying seconds. Edoardo Mortara (Rosberg) and Miguel Molina (Phoenix) completed the Audi rout.
Jamie Green was the best of the Mercedes drivers in eighth for HWA, while his team-mate Christian Vietoris was next up. RBM driver Augusto Farfus completed the top 10 in the best of the BMWs.
The most significant incident of the session came within the first half hour. Bruno Spengler made a practice pitstop, but left without his right-front wheel having been properly attached.
He drove around slowly for half a lap before the wheelnut came off altogether. He stopped on track - with the wheel still attached - as a safety precaution and was towed back to the pits. Later the Schnitzer driver returned to the track and went 15th quickest in a session that featured just over a second between the top 20 cars.
David Coulthard spun his Mucke Mercedes early on at Turn 1 while Ralf Schumacher took a heavy-looking bump over the exit kerbs there in his HWA machine.
Championship leader Gary Paffett ended the session 16th in his HWA Mercedes.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Mike Rockenfeller Phoenix Audi 1m18.352s 2. Timo Scheider Abt Audi 1m18.479s + 0.127s 3. Adrien Tambay Abt Audi 1m18.672s + 0.320s 4. Filipe Albuquerque Rosberg Audi 1m18.680s + 0.328s 5. Mattias Ekstrom Abt Audi 1m18.694s + 0.342s 6. Edoardo Mortara Rosberg Audi 1m18.707s + 0.355s 7. Miguel Molina Phoenix Audi 1m18.712s + 0.360s 8. Jamie Green HWA Mercedes 1m18.719s + 0.367s 9. Christian Vietoris HWA Mercedes 1m18.847s + 0.495s 10. Augusto Farfus RMG BMW 1m18.855s + 0.503s 11. Robert Wickens Mucke Mercedes 1m18.864s + 0.512s 12. Martin Tomczyk RMG BMW 1m18.887s + 0.535s 13. Andy Priaulx RBM BMW 1m18.909s + 0.557s 14. Joey Hand RMG BMW 1m18.938s + 0.586s 15. Bruno Spengler Schnitzer BMW 1m18.965s + 0.613s 16. Gary Paffett HWA Mercedes 1m19.084s + 0.732s 17. Roberto Merhi Persson Mercedes 1m19.115s + 0.763s 18. Ralf Schumacher HWA Mercedes 1m19.153s + 0.801s 19. Susie Wolff Persson Mercedes 1m19.313s + 0.961s 20. Rahel Frey Abt Audi 1m19.362s + 1.010s 21. Dirk Werner Schnitzer BMW 1m19.453s + 1.101s 22. David Coulthard Mucke Mercedes 1m19.480s + 1.128s
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