2010. September 4. 11:10 | no comments yet.  author: Viktor Adorján

WTCC Race of Germany got underway in a disturbed fashion for the field as the opening Free Practice was red flagged twice over the 30 minutes. Norbert Michelisz finished 11th after only a few completed laps before Tiago Monteiro crashed his car. Gabriele Tarquini was fastest.

The five week break is now officially over as the 2010 WTCC Race of Germany has begun with Free Practice 1 at 8:30 AM in Oschersleben. Autumn is definitely here, the temperatures were low and the atmosphere is dark here, a few kilometers away the track everybody could feel the first drops of rain.

Free Practice 1 was started on a dry circuit and the drivers completed their timed laps using slick tires. Norbert Michelisz entered the track among the first drivers but returned right at the end of his installation lap while the others led by Augusto Farfus started to produce the first timed laps.

Michelisz remained in the pits for the next 8 minutes when the session was red flagged for the first time as a result of Sergio Hernandez's accident that required cleanup on the track. Initially the timing monitor continued to count down but later the lost tracktime was given back to the drivers which initially indicated that they will use all the remaining 22 minutes of the session.

A series of timed laps

Motorsport Arena Oschersleben was reopened at 8:45 and Michelisz immediately went out to post his first laptimes of the weekend. His initial attempt was not helped by Gabriele Tarquini who made a mistake in Turn 1 and left the circuit but later rejoined without any problems. Yvan Muller took the lead but he was quickly pushed back as Robert Huff did a 1:37.169 and a 1:36.892 on the following lap.

Zengő-Dension Team's lead driver reached a 1:39.425 which was enough for the provisional 13th place but he stayed on the circuit for a longer run and improved his time by a small margin but on a regular basis. 16 minutes before the end of the session he did a 1:39.352 when the first drops of rain appeared on the lenses of the cameras but the situation didn't get worse immediately.

This enabled the Hungarian driver to continue his series of laps and improve the time for a 1:37.616 when 9 minutes were remaining. Michelisz then got back into the pits for a short check but rejoined the circuit almost immediately but didn't post any more timed laps as the session was red flagged again following Tiago Monteiro's crash into the tyre wall.

Monteiro slightly crashed his car but the damage was serious enough to force the Portuguese driver to sit out into the rain that hit Oschersleben towards the end of the session. Race control decided not to restart the practice which means that 30 minutes are remaining to adjust the cars for the qualification.

At the end of the terminated session it was reigning world champion Gabriele Tarquini who ended up fastest in his SEAT Leon TDI by setting a 1:36.852 ahead Robert Huff's 1:36.892 and Jordi Gené's 1:37.106. BMW's Andy Priaulx did a 1:37.123 and managed to be faster than Tiago Monteiro, Augusto Farfus, Alain Menu, Michel Nykjaer Tom Coronel, Yvan Muller, Norbert Michelisz and the rest of the field.

It is going to be challenging

It remains to be seen what happens over the course of the afternoon but one thing is for sure; qualification will be a very important battle for the drivers and also expected to be a gamble as the conditions proving to be tricky and difficult to calculate with.

Free practice 2 will surely be held on a wet or damp tarmac and currently the odds are against the chances of a dry track for the afternoon but the schedule is busy and cars are driving almost without intermissions which is certainly improving the state of the circuit.

One thing is for sure; the limited available tracktime and the changeable conditions make it even harder to find the optimal setup for the car.

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