During the second free practice session of the DTM at Brands Hatch, the drivers of Audi and Mercedes-Benz searched for the limit in preparation for qualifying. Eventually, Paul Di Resta set the fastest lap time with his AMG Mercedes C-Class. The Scot completed his fastest lap of the 1.929 kilomtres short Indy circuit in 41.101 seconds and thus toppled erstwhile leader Timo Scheider with seven minutes remaining. The Audi works driver had been on top of the time sheets for most of the session with his personal best time of 41.166 seconds.

Scheider ended up fourth in second free practice, after Oliver Jarvis and Gary Paffett moved up into second and third place respectively in the closing stages of the session. Thus, three local drivers from the UK locked out the top three positions. The nice balance between the two manufacturers competing in the DTM also became apparent in the following positions: Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz), Mattias Ekström (Audi), Ralf Schumacher (Mercedes-Benz) and Martin Tomczyk occupied fifth to eighth place

Ralf Schumacher

On Saturday morning, the search for the best possible set-up took its toll. Yellow flags were out for a while after David Coulthard, Maro Engel and Markus Winkelhock went off the track. Apart from a few kilograms of gravel, the cars remained largely undamaged, so that all drivers were able to resume their session. The longest distance, 54 laps, was completed by fastest driver Paul Di Resta. Scheider and Winkelhock only completed 24 laps each.

Susie Stoddart