Van der Linde, Bortolotti in Dead Heat in Sachsenring FP1

Kelvin van der Linde and Mirko Bortolotti set identical times to lead the opening Free Practice session for DTM’s return to the Sachsenring, resulting in a dead heat between the No. 3 ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II and No. 92 SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

Both drivers steered their respective cars to a best lap of 1:18.578, with Van der Linde first setting the time with eleven minutes remaining on the clock before Bortolotti matched it eight minutes later.

Thomas Preining ended up third aboard the No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R, a mere 0.023 seconds back.

The top five was rounded out by the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Maro Engel and Franck Perera’s No. 94 Lamborghini.

DTM returns to the Sachsenring circuit this weekend for the first time in 21 years. The track last hosted the championship in 2002, when Laurent Aiello took a double victory, after which it went absent from the schedule ever since.

Mercedes-AMG Team HRT pairing Luca Stolz and Arjun Maini took sixth and seventh, just under half a second off the quickest time.

Dennis Olsen and Ayhancan Guven took eighth and ninth for Manthey EMA and KÜS Team Bernhard respectively, while Jack Aitken rounded out the top ten.

The No. 14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 went quickest in the early stages and led when Jusuf Owega’s No. 84 Mercedes leaked fluid on the track, triggering a lengthy red flag.

It would take over 20 minutes for the session to eventually restart as marshalls worked to clean the track surface.

The second DTM practice session is due to start at 3.30 p.m. CEST (9:30 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Free Practice 1