Is Luca Stolz really knocking again in the 2022 DTM title fight? The German HRT-Mercedes driver clocked a clear best time of the day in Hockenheim on Friday in 1:37.374 minutes and distanced himself from the rest of the field by around three tenths of a second.
This idea also proudly underscores the supposed role of favorites held by Mercedes-AMG. In the second free practice session on Friday afternoon, brand colleague Lucas Auer gave the Affalterbachers a one-two lead. However, Abt-Audi driver Kelvin van der Linde set the second-fastest time of the day with his FT1 best time (1:37.652 minutes).
And what about the five title candidates? As expected, the lap times in the free practice sessions are not very meaningful. But the most consistent performance was on Friday from Grasser-Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti.
The Austro-Italian finished third in both practice sessions. Can he turn the tide in his favor again? At least Bortolotti knows how to win at the Hockenheimring. Last year he clinched a win in the ADAC GT Masters at the Baden Motodrom together with Lamborghini works driver Marco Mapelli.
Rast missed the top 10 in both training sessions
Auer can also go into the two days of racing satisfied with second place in the afternoon after eighth position in the first session. His Austrian compatriot Thomas Preining also made it into the top 10 in both practice sessions. At noon the Bernhard Porsche driver finished second, in the afternoon he was ninth.
Similar to Auer, overall leader Sheldon van der Linde improved in the second free practice session. While the Schubert-BMW driver from South Africa only finished P18 in FT1, he finished a good fifth in the afternoon. The three-time DTM champion René Rast, on the other hand, missed the top ten in both sessions as 13th.
“I don’t know what position we’re in, but it wasn’t enough to be at the top. We have to improve that a bit for tomorrow. The goal should of course be to be at the top tomorrow, we still have a bit of work to do ahead of us,” says Rast.
“But in general, I think we’ve worked through the test points that we set out to do. That was the most important thing.” DTM debutant Christian Engelhart also had a good day. The SSR Porsche driver is allowed to step in as a substitute for Belgian Laurens Vanthoor at Hockenheim. In both practice sessions, Engelhart finished an impressive seventh.
Track limits in Hockenheim an issue
In Hockenheim, too, the DTM once again impresses with a high level of performance. In both practice sessions, the top 22 were within a second. With beautiful autumn weather and temperatures just under 20 degrees Celsius, the track limits were a particular issue.
On the final weekend in Hockenheim, corners 1, 6 (drivers must stay on the blue and white curb with the tires on the inside of the corner), 11 (drivers may touch the yellow curb, but not drive over it) and 16 (drivers must use the stay on the blue and white curb on the inside of the curve).
A total of 60 lap times were canceled in the first session, followed by another 56 in the second free practice session. In qualifying, too, the race control canceled times in the event of corresponding offences. In the race on Saturday, drivers who exceed the track limits too often face grid penalties for Sunday’s race. On Sunday, on the other hand, 5-second time penalties will be imposed.
On Saturday morning, the DTM finale at Hockenheim continues with the 1st qualifying session at 10:05 am. The race starts as usual at 1:30 p.m.