Paul Di Resta fastest in very close final practice session

Mercedes-AMG DTM’s Paul Di Resta was fastest during the final free practice session of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) season, as he posted the best time of a 1:32.974 around the 4.574-km track.

In a session that saw Audi Sport have six of their RS5 DTMs in the top ten, two-time champion Timo Scheider led the Ingolstadt ranks, just 0.024 seconds behind the Scot, with first practice pace setter Jamie Green and title contender Edoardo Mortara rounding out the top four.

The only major off-track excursion was that of Team RBM’s Tom Blomqvist, who went straight on into the gravel at Sachskurve with 90 seconds remaining. The Brit would be last at the end of a session, where all 24 drivers were separated by just 0.800 seconds.

Nico Müller showed good pace, as the Swiss driver placed fifth ahead of Miguel Molina. ART Grand Prix rookie Lucas Auer was seventh, 0.091 seconds off the pace.

Norisring race winner Robert Wickens was eighth, ahead of Team Abt Sportsline’s Mattias Ekström and 2013 champion Mike Rockenfeller, where the top ten was separated by 0.129 seconds overall.

Current points leader Pascal Wehrlein was 0.291 seconds off the pace in 12th, having the heaviest car on the grid.

The returning Daniel Juncadella would be in the top ten for the majority of the session, but the Spaniard would eventually end up 19th.

Outgoing champion Marco Wittmann’s difficult weekend continued, as the Team RMG driver was 0.588 seconds off the pace set by Di Resta in 17th.

BMW Motorsport endured a tough time during the 50-minute session, with their fastest driver being Augusto Farfus, with the Brazilian being 0.105 seconds outside the top ten.

Qualifying for the penultimate DTM race of the season starts at 1110 CEST (1010 BST), lasting for 20 minutes.

Session results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	3	Paul di RESTA		SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	19	1:32.974	0.000
2	10	Timo SCHEIDER		Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi RS5 DTM	19	1:32.998	0.024
3	53	Jamie GREEN		Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi RS5 DTM	20	1:33.000	0.026
4	48	Edoardo MORTARA		Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi RS5 DTM	19	1:33.044	0.070
5	51	Nico MÜLLER		Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi RS5 DTM	20	1:33.055	0.081
6	17	Miguel MOLINA		Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi RS5 DTM	16	1:33.056	0.082
7	22	Lucas AUER		EURONICS / BWT Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	21	1:33.065	0.091
8	6	Robert WICKENS		SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	21	1:33.084	0.110
9	5	Mattias EKSTRÖM		Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi RS5 DTM	16	1:33.099	0.125
10	99	Mike ROCKENFELLER		Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi RS5 DTM	20	1:33.103	0.129
11	18	Augusto FARFUS		BMW Team RBM	BMW M4 DTM	19	1:33.208	0.234
12	94	Pascal WEHRLEIN		gooix / Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	18	1:33.265	0.291
13	27	Adrien TAMBAY		Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi RS5 DTM	20	1:33.303	0.329
14	7	Bruno SPENGLER		BMW Team MTEK	BMW M4 DTM	18	1:33.446	0.472
15	2	Gary PAFFETT		EURONICS / BWT Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	20	1:33.510	0.536
16	36	Maxime MARTIN		BMW Team RMG	BMW M4 DTM	19	1:33.512	0.538
17	1	Marco WITTMANN		BMW Team RMG	BMW M4 DTM	15	1:33.562	0.588
18	84	Maximilian GÖTZ		PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	21	1:33.568	0.594
19	12	Daniel JUNCADELLA		PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	19	1:33.659	0.685
20	13	António Félix da COSTA		BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW M4 DTM	17	1:33.670	0.696
21	16	Timo GLOCK		BMW Team MTEK	BMW M4 DTM	16	1:33.676	0.702
22	77	Martin TOMCZYK		BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW M4 DTM	18	1:33.676	0.702
23	8	Christian VIETORIS		gooix / Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	20	1:33.754	0.780
24	31	Tom BLOMQVIST		BMW Team RBM	BMW M4 DTM	13	1:33.774	0.800

Complete session results.