Dörr tops Norisring DTM practice

Ben Dörr was the fastest driver between the walls and barriers in his Dörr Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo on Friday at the Norisring, ahead of this weekend's DTM doubleheader at Germany's only street circuit. The 21-year-old stopped the clock at 48.793 seconds around the 1.3-mile course to set the best time of free practice.

"I felt really good in the car. Compared to the past two years at the Norisring, we have made great progress," he said. "The layout and asphalt, with its many bumps, do not necessarily suit the McLaren. However, I am obviously still hoping for good results. A podium would be cool, although it will be difficult."

Second place went to Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf), who took 0.151s longer for his fastest lap of the iconic narrow and bumpy track, which is the shortest on the DTM calendar. Jules Gounon (Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) was third, just 0.024s behind his fellow Mercedes-AMG driver. Nicki Thiim (Comtoyou Racing) was fourth fastest in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3, while the best-placed Ferrari driver was Thierry Vermeulen (Emil Frey Racing) in fifth. Only the top five dipped below 49 seconds on their fastest laps.

The two qualifying sessions for races seven and eight of the season will be held in two groups at the Norisring. The results of the two practice sessions form the basis for these groups: the drivers in the odd positions start at 9:35am local time on Saturday. Those in the even positions follow at 10:00. The order then changes on Sunday: the group that started second on Saturday open qualifying for the second race.

• Watch both DTM races at the Norisring LIVE on RACER Network and the RACER+ App. Races run from 7:15-9:15am ET, Saturday and Sunday.