Porsche driver Dennis Olsen posted the fastest lap time of the day as the second half of the DTM season got underway at Nürburgring. With the 911 run by the Munich-based SSR Performance team, the Norwegian completed his best lap of the 3.629 kilometres long sprint circuit in 1m 26.326s. In the home round of Mercedes-AMG Team HRT, based at the Nürburgring business park in Meuspath, Luca Stolz (GER) ended up second-fastest (1m 26.353s). Points’ leader Mirko Bortolotti (ITA) with the GRT Lamborghini was third-fastest (1m 26.414s) in the addition of the two DTM free practice sessions on Friday. During the “DTM Nürburgring powered by Mercedes-AMG” event, the ninth and tenth race of the season will be held on Saturday and Sunday (start at 1.30pm CEST on both days, ProSieben is broadcasting live from 1pm).

Most recently, Austrian Thomas Preining had secured the maiden DTM race win for Porsche with the KÜS Team Bernhard Porsche 911 at Norisring. “Nürburgring should suit our Porsche, too,” Preining had said during the DTM press conference on Wednesday. That proved to be correct in the practice sessions on Friday. In the first session, Olsen was on top for a long time until Bortolotti posted the fastest time in the closing stages. Olsen’s Belgian teammate Laurens Vanthoor ended up as the best-placed Porsche driver in second while Olsen and Preining concluded practice in fifth and seventh place respectively. In second practice, Olsen posted the fastest time of the day while Preining and Vanthoor underlined Porsche’s potential at the long-standing track in the Eifel in third and fifth place. “It was a good day. The car was good, we have improved since the test on Sunday. Now we are trying to make the next step for qualifying on Saturday. Hopefully we are in the same place tomorrow! It's quite challenging to set up the car for this track because you have very slow hairpins as well as some faster corners plus a chicane which is quite tight and big kerbs. To put a lap together is crucial tomorrow and not to make any mistakes,” Dennis Olsen sums up.

DTM Trophy: Fastest times for Daniel Gregor and Jacob Riegel

In DTM Trophy, the talent pool on the DTM platform, two young German talents ended up setting the fastest times in the two free practice sessions. In the morning already, Daniel Gregor posted the fastest time of the day in 1m 35.192s with the KÜS Team Bernhard Porsche 718 Cayman. Next up were Frenchman Edouard Cauhaupé (Mücke Mercedes-AMG) and der German Tim Heinemann (Ring-Racing Toyota). With Nick Hancke (Speed Monkeys Aston Martin) and Thiago Vivacqua (Heide Audi) in fourth and fifth place, five different brands ended up in the first five positions. In the afternoon, the situation was similar with all six brands among the first seven places. Jacob Riegel was fastest with a time of 1m 35.414s with the Aston Martin run by the Speed Monkeys team ahead of Moritz Löhner (FK Performance BMW), Hancke, Cauhaupé, Heinemann, Vivacqua and Gregor.

Mit DTM as the top act, DTM Trophy, DTM Classic DRM Cup and four further race series and a total of 15 races, the DTM weekend provides motorsport action at its best.