Olsen Leads Final Nürburgring Practice

Dennis Olsen led the way in the second and final Free Practice session for the DTM round of the Nürburgring, putting SSR Performance up top ahead of Mercedes driver Luca Stolz.

Olsen put in number of impressive lap times behind the wheel of the No. 94 Porsche 911 GT3 R, ultimately ending with a 1:26.326.

The Norwegian’s best effort proved to be the quickest time of the weekend so far, just under a tenth faster than the lap that allowed Mirko Bortolotti to lead the opening session

That was quick enough to hang on to the top spot even as the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo II of Luca Stolz set a series of rapid laps in the closing minutes of the session.

When the checkered flag fell, the two drivers were separated by just 0.027 seconds with Thomas Preining behind the wheel of the No. 24 Porsche.

Mirko Bortolotti slotted into fourth, with Laurens Vanthoor rounding out the top five ahead of Sheldon van der Linde and Mikael Grenier.

Maro Engel set the eighth fastest time leading Arjun Maini, who led the session before the halfway point before a series of faster laps from the likes of Stolz, Preining and Olsen dropped him to ninth.

Mercedes runners showed notably better pace in the second session compared to earlier in the day, with four AMGs in the top ten compared to none in Free Practice 1, where Stolz was best-placed in eleventh.

Van der Linde’s No. 3 Abt Sportline Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II rounded out the top ten in the end ahead of Nico Mueller, who similarly sat at the head of the field in the early goings but ultimately finished eleventh.

David Schumacher took twelfth ahead of Rolf Ineichen, Clemens Schmid and Maxi Buhk.

Qualifying for the first DTM race starts at 10:15 a.m CEST (4:15 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Free Practice 2