HOHENSTEIN-ERNSTHAL, Germany — It was a strong start from Kelvin von der Linde at the sixth DTM stop at the Sachsenring on Friday.
Von der Linde underlined his title ambitions with a lap of 1:18.599.
“That looked really good. The car’s setup was perfect, so we were fast right from the start. I generally like the Sachsenring, even in my time in the ADAC GT Masters I was regularly at the front,” said the Audi driver from Abt Sportsline.
With a gap of 0.135 seconds, current DTM champion Thomas Preining the Porsche 911 GT3 R from the Manthey EMA team came second. The sixth-placed driver made it clear that he has not lost sight of the championship yet.
“It feels good to finally be at the front again. The team put in an incredible amount of work beforehand, especially with regard to the many left-hand bends. We want to reward ourselves for that. I always enjoy driving at the Sachsenring and look forward to the races,” explained the 26-year-old.
Preining’s compatriot Lucas Auer took third place in the Mercedes-AMG. Jack Aitken drove the Ferrari 296 GT3 from Emil Frey Racing to fourth place. Maro Engel from the Mercedes-AMG Team Winward came fifth.
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