The entire DTM field tested at Sachsenring: How the collision between Auer and Thiim happened, who set the fastest lap, and why the second session was slower
Mercedes-AMG set the fastest time at the ADAC-organized DTM test day at the Sachsenring, which took place on Sunday in good conditions with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius: Winward Mercedes driver Jules Gounon set the fastest time of the day in the “Mamba” with 1:17.872, 0.163 seconds faster than Grasser Lamborghini driver Jordan Pepper, who finished second. The third fastest time was set by “Grello” Porsche driver Thomas Preining (+0.242).
However, there was also an incident involving DTM leader Lucas Auer: The Austrian was only able to complete 27 laps in the morning because he lost control of his car in the eighth corner and slid into the gravel, spinning and colliding with Nicki Thiim’s slow-moving Abt Lamborghini.
“I made a driving error and lost the car,” with the Dane “bearing the brunt.” “Thiim was probably doing a heat soak, and we touched,” said Auer, believing that Thiim was in the process of warming up his tires over the brakes.
Maximilian Paul causes the only red flag
However, a red flag was not necessary, as both drivers were able to bring their cars back to the pits. “The guys did a great job and repaired my car quickly, and we were able to continue my test program on schedule at 2 p.m. and work through the remaining items,” said Auer, who was satisfied despite the lost time.
“It was still a good and productive day of testing,” concluded the two-time winner this season, despite getting the least amount of driving time with a total of 74 laps. The collision with Thiim wasn’t the only incident: Maximilian Paul caused the only red flag of the day when he spun off into the gravel shortly before 11 a.m. and his Lamborghini had to be recovered.
Why the morning session was faster than the afternoon
The times were quite representative because they had to be completed with the Balance of Performance for the weekend already in place: It was noticeable that the personal best times of all drivers except Auer, Land Audi driver Ricardo Feller, and HRT Ford driver Arjun Maini were set in the first session between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. This was also due to the cool morning temperatures, which are good for the engines. And the conditions were ideal for a qualifying simulation.
By midday, there was a lot of dirt on the track because there are still real gravel beds at the Sachsenring and the drivers often cut the corners. Gounon’s theoretical best time (1:17.814) was 0.058 seconds faster than his actual best time, but around six tenths slower than Thomas Preining’s qualifying record (1:17.199) from last year.
Glock faster than Ben Dörr, Schubert lagging behind
In the afternoon session from 2 to 5 p.m., when the sun came out and the track heated up, Emil Frey Ferrari driver Jack Aitken was the fastest with a time of 1:18.457. It was noticeable that Timo Glock was faster than his Dörr teammate Ben Dörr in both sessions: The 43-year-old was ninth in the overall standings, 0.618 seconds behind the fastest time, while the 20-year-old was 0.738 seconds behind in twelfth place.
In the afternoon, Glock was tenth, 0.421 seconds behind, while Dörr was 0.566 seconds behind in 15th place. The team had announced that it would work on race performance and try to get the wheels up to temperature more quickly after the stop by making changes to the axle geometry.
How did the BMW Team Schubert fare, which wanted to use the test to alleviate the weaknesses of recent years in the twisty first sector? In both sessions, neither Rene Rast nor Marco Wittmann made it into the top 10.
The Fürth native was 0.764 seconds behind in the overall standings, which was enough for 13th place. Rast was 0.850 seconds behind in 16th place, which at least looks discouraging based on the times. The DTM weekend at the Sachsenring begins on Friday with two free practice sessions.
The fact that no one wanted to miss the test in Hohenstein-Ernstthal also has to do with the fact that the teams will only have five DTM test days per vehicle in 2025 anyway, and the day would have been forfeited even if it had been canceled, as it was organized directly by the ADAC.
