HOHENSTEIN-ERNSTTHAL, Germany — A clear message from Jordan Pepper (ZA/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) with the fastest practice lap on Friday at the Sachsenring, the third-placed driver in the standings showed that his challenge for the DTM lead can be expected this race weekend.
The South African set the fastest time in the first morning session with a time of 1:17.967 minutes, making him the only driver to break the 1:18.000 mark.
Timo Glock (Kreuzlingen/Dörr Motorsport) was once again in strong form: The former Formula 1 driver set the fastest lap of the afternoon session and set the second-best lap of the day, building on his performance at the Nürburgring, where he set the first McLaren top time in the DTM.
“My last race at the Sachsenring was in Formula 3 in 2002, and I even won back then. I really enjoy the track, especially the fast second sector,” revealed Glock.
Third place went to championship leader Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf). The Austrian thus proved himself well prepared for the coming attacks from the competition. His fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) lapped the 3.645-kilometer circuit with the fourth-best time.
Porsche works driver Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA) secured fifth place. Defending champion Mirko Bortolotti (I/Abt Sportsline) rounded out the top six in his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2.
Pepper set the day’s best time in the morning.
“We already completed a qualifying simulation in the first session, and in the afternoon we worked on a few different setup settings. The Sachsenring is a special place for me. I drove my first DTM race here a year ago,” explained the 29-year-old.
