Bortolotti Fastest in Opening Nürburgring Practice

Mirko Bortolotti set the fastest time in the first Free Practice session for the DTM round at the Nürburgring.

The current championship leader posted a 1:26.414 aboard the No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, outpacing SSR Performance’s Laurens Vanthoor by 0.198 seconds.

Vanthoor had led the session aboard the No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R with his best lap of 1:26.414 until he was bested by Bortolotti.

The Italian had sat in fourth place at that point behind Vanthoor, teammate Clemens Schmid and Dennis Olsen before vaulting to the top.

Schmid ended the session in third place behind Bortolotti and Vanthoor but ahead of Philipp Eng, who secured fourth late in the session with a best lap of 1:26.739 in his No. 25 Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.

Olsen was dropped to fifth as a result, but remained clear of Nick Cassidy, Thomas Preining and Ricardo Feller.

Brothers Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde completed the session’s top ten in ninth and tenth respectively.

Luca Stolz, Nico Mueller and Rolf Ineichen fell just outside the top ten, with the top fifteen rounded out by Maro Engel and Arjun Maini.

DTM track action at the Nürburgring continues with Free Practice 2 at 15:45 p.m. CEST (9:45 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Practice 1