SPORTSCAR

Audi ahead of Porsche: that was the order at the end of the first DTM test day just before the season opener at Portimão. Swiss Ricardo Feller ended up fastest in the Team ABT Sportsline Audi R8 with a time of 1m 41.573s ahead of Austrian Thomas Preining (1m 41.658s) with the Porsche 911 from KÜS Team Bernhard. With 21-year-old Feller, a DTM newcomer posted the fastest lap time, just like in the first official DTM test in early April. At Hockenheim, it had been German Marius Zug, the youngest driver in the field at 19, who confirmed his performance with the third-fastest time at Portimão on Tuesday with the Attempto Racing Audi. The 29 drivers from the record field of the 2022 DTM will continue the second official test on Wednesday afternoon. The first two of this season’s 16 races will be held at the 4.653 kilometres long track on the Algarve on Saturday and Sunday (race start 1.30pm CEST on both days).

The spectacular entry by record world rally champion Sébastien Loeb, the comeback by three-time champion René Rast, the historic entry by Porsche – DTM is writing many spectacular stories during its season opener at the Portuguese Formula 1 track of Portimão this weekend (29 April till 1 May). The 2021 season, the first year with GT3 regulations, was thrilling from the first till the final race. Now, DTM, watched all over the world, is gearing up for a record season: 29 race cars, more than ever before since the DTM’s comeback in 2000; six high-quality brands, a number last seen in the 1990s, and drivers from 15 nations, another record.