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Zolder DTM: Philipp Eng leads practice for BMW

BMW's Philipp Eng set the fastest time in Friday practice for Zolder's return to the DTM

Eng set his best lap inside the first 10 minutes of the second session, beating Rene Rast's best effort from the opening practice as he completed his first flying lap in 1m22.930s.

On his next attempt, Eng lowered the bar again to a 1m22.476s and underlined BMW's one-lap pace it demonstrated in the Hockenheim season opener.

WRT's newcomer Jonathan Aberdein was an impressive second fastest, lapping 0.132 seconds off Eng, and placing his customer Audi ahead of the factory-run machine of Rast.

Rast's morning benchmark of 1m22.941s came in changeable conditions as a shower of rain pre-session dampened the track before a dry line emerged late on.

The Audi driver's best time in the second session was a 1m22.581s lap and it put him ahead of Robin Frijns - who lives near the track - and the BMW of Timo Glock.

Glock's team-mate Marco Wittmann, the winner of the Hockenheim opener in wet conditions, was sixth.

Bruno Spengler, Nico Muller, Sheldon Van der Linde and Joel Eriksson rounded out the top 10.

Van der Linde perfectly demonstrated the effect of increased power from the DTM's new engines by briefly going sideways on the exit of the Jacky Ickx chicane in the first session, while Audi's Jamie Green put in an early on-the-limit lap in the second session.

The increased power and torque has placed increased demands on the Hankook tyre.

Green would eventually place 12th behind Audi team-mate Loic Duval and ahead of the second WRT Audi of Pietro Fittipaldi after the Brazilian impressed by taking sixth in the first session.

The R-Motorsport Aston Martins performed well in the mixed conditions of the first session with Jake Dennis posting the eighth best time.

In the second practice, the best Aston time came through Daniel Juncadella for 15th, leading Dennis, Paul di Resta and Ferdinand Habsburg.

The damp running may prove crucial with rain currently forecast for the finale on Sunday.

Practice one times

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap Laps
1 Rene Rast Rosberg Audi 1m22.941s - 25
2 Marco Wittmann RMG BMW 1m23.731s 0.790s 28
3 Robin Frijns Abt Audi 1m23.754s 0.813s 26
4 Philipp Eng RMR BMW 1m23.828s 0.887s 28
5 Jonathan Aberdein WRT Audi 1m23.858s 0.917s 25
6 Pietro Fittipaldi WRT Audi 1m23.881s 0.940s 25
7 Nico Muller Abt Audi 1m23.902s 0.961s 26
8 Jake Dennis R-Motorsport Aston Martin 1m23.974s 1.033s 21
9 Daniel Juncadella R-Motorsport Aston Martin 1m24.014s 1.073s 24
10 Loic Duval Phoenix Audi 1m24.160s 1.219s 23
11 Sheldon van der Linde RBM BMW 1m24.174s 1.233s 28
12 Jamie Green Rosberg Audi 1m24.191s 1.250s 23
13 Bruno Spengler RMG BMW 1m24.245s 1.304s 28
14 Mike Rockenfeller Phoenix Audi 1m24.351s 1.410s 24
15 Paul Di Resta R-Motorsport Aston Martin 1m24.447s 1.506s 25
16 Timo Glock RMR BMW 1m24.570s 1.629s 28
17 Joel Eriksson RBM BMW 1m24.575s 1.634s 25
18 Ferdinand Habsburg R-Motorsport Aston Martin 1m25.233s 2.292s 19

Practice two times

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap Laps
1 Philipp Eng RMR BMW 1m22.476s - 16
2 Jonathan Aberdein WRT Audi 1m22.515s 0.039s 18
3 Rene Rast Rosberg Audi 1m22.581s 0.105s 19
4 Robin Frijns Abt Audi 1m22.641s 0.165s 16
5 Timo Glock RMR BMW 1m22.729s 0.253s 14
6 Marco Wittmann RMG BMW 1m22.758s 0.282s 13
7 Bruno Spengler RMG BMW 1m22.817s 0.341s 16
8 Nico Muller Abt Audi 1m22.893s 0.417s 17
9 Sheldon van der Linde RBM BMW 1m22.981s 0.505s 15
10 Joel Eriksson RBM BMW 1m23.084s 0.608s 17
11 Loic Duval Phoenix Audi 1m23.290s 0.814s 22
12 Jamie Green Rosberg Audi 1m23.355s 0.879s 16
13 Pietro Fittipaldi WRT Audi 1m23.363s 0.887s 20
14 Mike Rockenfeller Phoenix Audi 1m23.643s 1.167s 21
15 Daniel Juncadella R-Motorsport Aston Martin 1m23.723s 1.247s 17
16 Jake Dennis R-Motorsport Aston Martin 1m23.739s 1.263s 16
17 Paul Di Resta R-Motorsport Aston Martin 1m23.939s 1.463s 19
18 Ferdinand Habsburg R-Motorsport Aston Martin 1m25.830s 3.354s 13

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