Reigning DTM champion René Rast topped times times on the final day of the official pre-season test at the Nürburgring, but it was fellow Audi racer Ferdinand von Habsburg who emerged with the best time of all four days combined.
Rast put in his best time of the week so far to top the morning session, although his lap was not quick enough to match that of von Habsburg, who posted a time on Wednesday which was just over a tenth quicker.
In Thursday’s combined classification, BMW’s Timo Glock ended the day second fastest, 0.165 seconds adrift of Rast, with BMW newcomer Jonathan Aberdein in third, a further four hundredths behind.
Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller was fourth, 0.258 seconds off Rast, despite the Team Phoenix driver completing more laps than any other driver during the four-day test.
Team Abt’s Robin Frijns was fifth, ahead of team-mate Nico Müller in sixth.
BMW’s Lucas Auer was seventh, edging out the independent ART-run BMW of Robert Kubica in eighth, the Pole posting his best time of the entire test on Thursday morning.
The biggest talking point of the day was the fact that Harrison Newey, son of F1 designer Adrian, was behind the wheel of one of WRT’s Audis, the Brit lapping ninth fastest, 0.733 seconds off the pace after completing 140 laps.
Audi’s Loïc Duval was tenth, the Frenchman completing just 68 laps across the entire test due to having broken his collarbone just two weeks’ ago in a mountain biking accident. Duval had taken to the track on Tuesday as well, when he posted his best time of the test, but could only manage a further 39 laps on Thursday.
WRT’s Fabio Scherer was 11th in Thursday’s combined times, whilst Habsburg propped up the times after a low-key effort, having topped both Tuesday and Wednesday’s times.
BMW’s Philipp Eng completed just six laps and did not cross the start line.
Austrian von Habsburg leads the Eiffel with the best overall time
In the combined ranking, von Habsburg claimed the best time with his lap on Wednesday, ahead of Swiss racer Müller, also on Wednesday, 0.033 seconds behind.
“On Wednesday, we have posted the fastest DTM lap time at the Nürburgring,” said von Habsburg of his time which was quicker than the qualifying lap record. “That shows how fast and exciting the DTM will be this season. I really enjoyed being back behind the wheel after such a long time of waiting.”
Rast’s Thursday lap put him in third, ahead of Jamie Green’s time posted on Wednesday, the duo having shared the same chassis.
BMW’s Sheldon van der Linde was fifth overall, 0.159 seconds off the pace, ahead of Glock in sixth, a further tenth of a second back.
Key statistics and virus control measures
In total 16 different drivers took part in the tests, with only WRT’s Ed Jones absent from all four days.
Audi factory teams completed 1,964 laps in total, ahead of BMW’s factory squads on 1,737 laps.
DTM organiser, ITR Gmbh, reported a ‘successful’ implementation of the series’ COVID-19 ‘infection protection plan’, with the test having been extremely limited in terms of personnel numbers.
It reported that “a detailed and precise infection protection plan allowed for the test days to be held amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In the implementation of the measures, such as distancing, use of protection and regular temperature checks, all the organisations involved perfectly worked together.”
The DTM season gets underway at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on 1 – 2 August.
Combined morning and afternoon results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 165 | 1:19.028 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 161 | 1:19.193 | 0.165 |
| 3 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 166 | 1:19.230 | 0.202 |
| 4 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 82 | 1:19.286 | 0.258 |
| 5 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 80 | 1:19.375 | 0.347 |
| 6 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 94 | 1:19.428 | 0.400 |
| 7 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 145 | 1:19.476 | 0.448 |
| 8 | 8 | Robert KUBICA |  |
BMW Team ART | BMW M4 DTM | 146 | 1:19.493 | 0.465 |
| 9 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 140 | 1:19.761 | 0.733 |
| 10 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 39 | 1:20.045 | 1.017 |
| 11 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 66 | 1:20.401 | 1.373 |
| 12 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 84 | 1:21.134 | 2.106 |
| 13 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 6 | No time | N/A |
Combined times – all four days
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 529 | 1:18.911 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER | |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 325 | 1:18.944 | 0.033 |
| 3 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 359 | 1:19.028 | 0.117 |
| 4 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 280 | 1:19.037 | 0.126 |
| 5 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 273 | 1:19.070 | 0.159 |
| 6 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 292 | 1:19.157 | 0.246 |
| 7 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 330 | 1:19.204 | 0.293 |
| 8 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS | |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 363 | 1:19.214 | 0.303 |
| 9 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 318 | 1:19.230 | 0.319 |
| 10 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 569 | 1:19.286 | 0.375 |
| 11 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 291 | 1:19.476 | 0.565 |
| 12 | 8 | Robert KUBICA | |
BMW Team ART | BMW M4 DTM | 541 | 1:19.493 | 0.582 |
| 13 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 354 | 1:19.511 | 0.600 |
| 14 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 224 | 1:19.581 | 0.670 |
| 15 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 68 | 1:19.587 | 0.676 |
| 16 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 140 | 1:19.761 | 0.850 |