Raffaele Marciello put AKKA ASP on top in this morning's free practice at the Nürburgring. The #88 Mercedes-AMG posted a lap of 1m54.675s early in the 90-minute session and was almost half a second clear when the chequered flag flew.
Marciello led a trio of Italian drivers at the head of the order, with Marco Mapelli second quickest in the #63 Orange1 FFF Racing Lamborghini, 0.469s shy of the Mercedes. Mattia Drudi made it a trio of brands among the top three, the Attempto Racing Audi circulating just 0.002s slower that Mapelli.
Two more Audi runners completed the top five: local expert Markus Winkelhock was P4 in the #25 Sainteloc Racing machine, followed by another Italian – Mirko Bortolotti – in the #31 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT entry.
The #991 Herberth Motorsport Porsche was sixth and also topped the Pro-Am class. Robert Renauer posted the time, which was just 0.004s clear of class rival Sandy Mitchel in the #77 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini.
The #159 Garage 59 Aston Martin was the best Silver Cup runner and ended the session 15th overall. Andrew Watson was at the wheel for the class-leading lap. Full session times can be viewed via the link at the bottom of this page.
The session was halted around the hour mark after Stuart Hall hit the turn 1 tyre barriers. The British racer was unhurt, though the incident ended the session for the #33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT crew. This would be the only stoppage of an otherwise clean run.
Cars will be back on-track at 13.35 for pre-qualifying, followed by the deciding qualifying session at 19.10. Six hours of racing will follow on Sunday, with the green flag set to fly at 11.45.