DTM Nurburgring: Manthey dominates free practice, is AMG stronger than it looks?
Extreme heat at the start of DTM practice at the Nürburgring: In 36-degree air temperatures and with a forest fire not far from the Eifel circuit sending up a column of smoke, Porsche’s top team Manthey secured the leading positions: Thomas Preining set the day’s best time of 1:25.517, 0.249 seconds faster than team-mate Ricardo Feller in second place. Preining was only 0.399 seconds ... Keep…
During the opening day of DTM practice at the Nürburgring, Manthey's Thomas Preining emerged as the top performer with a lap time of 1:25.517, setting a new record lap based on the 2023 qualifying record of 1:25.118. Ricardo Feller followed in second place, just 0.249 seconds behind Preining. Mercedes-AMG's Emil Frey, the DTM leader, was notably 14th in the overall classification, suggesting the team's performance may not be as strong as it appears.
BMW's Kelvin van der Linde and AMG's Marco Wittmann, both aiming to improve their competitive standing, secured the third and fourth fastest laps respectively. In the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, Nicki Thiim, who was second in the overall standings, managed to claim the fifth position, despite a disappointing performance during the Oschersleben weekend.
The HRT Ford drivers, Wiebelhaus and Arjun Maini, faced penalties for testing violations, resulting in 11th and 11th places respectively. Despite a poor performance during the previous weekend, Ferrari's car demonstrated promise in practice, with Flach stating that it appears better than expected. However, the challenging weather conditions are expected to make the setup process more difficult on Sunday.
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