Mirko Bortolotti opens DTM stop at Nürburgring with top time

04.08.2023

  • Lamborghini driver is the only driver to stay under 1:26.000 minutes in free practice
  • Championship leader Thomas Preining in fifth place confirms good form of recent weeks
  • Cool temperatures ensure late best times in Friday's sessions

Mirko Bortolotti delivered a strong performance in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 at the opening round of the fourth DTM stop at the Nürburgring. The 33-year-old from Team SSR Performance set the day's fastest time of 1:25.977 minutes in the second free practice session on Friday afternoon and was the only driver to stay under the 1:26.000 mark. "This was a productive day for us. We successfully completed our program in the test sessions. But the decisive two days of the weekend are still ahead of us. Then it's a matter of translating our good work into results," said the Italian.

Second fastest was Dennis Olsen (N), who had set the top mark in the first session in the morning with 1:26.153 minutes. The Porsche driver competes for Team Manthey EMA, which is based in Meuspath just a few minutes away from the Eifel circuit. Third place went to Lucas Auer (A) in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, Franck Perera (F) was fourth in the second Lamborghini from SSR Performance. Front runner Thomas Preining (A), Olsen's teammate, steered his nine-eleven to fifth place.The 25-year-old thus underlined his ambitions to start the second half of the season as the unofficial half-time champion after races seven and eight on the Eifel circuit. 

Both practice sessions were held on Friday in cool weather under cloudy skies. With a maximum temperature of 16 degrees Celsius, the drivers needed a few laps to get the Pirelli tires into the optimum working window. The top three drivers set their best times on laps 20, 21 and 22, with only Perera setting his top mark on the 3.629-kilometer short circuit of the Grand Prix circuit as early as the tenth lap. The complete results of both sessions are available at dtm.com/results.
 
Qualifying on Saturday starts at 9:35 am. The battle for the best grid positions will be broadcast live on ran.de. TV partner ProSieben will show all 16 races of the season live on free-to-air TV. Worldwide, the DTM will be broadcast live or re-live in over 150 territories.