After four days the DTM Series test at the Nürburgring has concluded with roughly 19,000 kilometres completed over 5,200 laps.
Ferdinand Habsburg emerged as the fastest driver, and was faster than the current DTM lap record for the sprint circuit. However, the two manufacturers were relatively on par over the four days.
The works teams were only allowed to run one car at a time during the test whereas the two privateer teams WRT and ART had permission to run a maximum of two cars. As the only ART driver it meant Robert Kubica was allowed unlimited running on all four days.
“Of course, after a challenging time, not only for racing drivers and teams, but for everybody during the lockdown, it is nice to be able to drive a race car again,” said Kubica. “Everybody showed a lot of consideration for the others. After all, health is the most important thing. For me as a newcomer, there were many new things to discover, with the car, the procedures, the team.”
It was Mike Rockenfeller who completed the most laps of the test, the 2013 champion stepped in for his team-mate Loïc Duval after the Frenchman suffered pain from a broken collarbone. As a result the German completed a total of 569 laps.
Kubica, was second best with 541 laps with pacesetter Habsburg third having completed 529 laps. Robin Frijns was a distant third with 363 laps, as reigning champion René Rast ranked fifth for mileage completed with 369 laps.
“We hadn’t been allowed to sit in the car for a long time,” said Rockenfeller. “Therefore, I enjoyed every single lap in the car and I got to drive a lot. We made good use of the test and now I am looking forward to the first race at Spa-Francorchamps.”
However, the teams will have to wait until the season opener at Spa-Francorchamps to get an accurate picture of where they all are. With the application of the opening round of the year to take place at the Norisring having been rejected the season will start on 1-2 August.
DTM 2020: Nürburgring Test – Best Times
| Position | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
| 1 | Ferdinand Habsburg | Austria | Audi | 1m18.911s |
| 2 | Nico Müller | Switzerland | Audi | 1m18.944s |
| 3 | René Rast | Germany | Audi | 1m19.028s |
| 4 | Jamie Green | Great Britain | Audi | 1m19.037s |
| 5 | Sheldon van der Linde | South Africa | BMW | 1m19.070s |
| 6 | Timo Glock | Germany | BMW | 1m19.157s |
| 7 | Philipp Eng | Austria | BMW | 1m19.204s |
| 8 | Robin Frijns | The Netherlands | Audi | 1m19.214s |
| 9 | Jonathan Aberdein | South Africa | BMW | 1m19.230s |
| 10 | Mike Rockenfeller | Germany | Audi | 1m19.286s |
| 11 | Lucas Auer | Austria | BMW | 1m19.476s |
| 12 | Robert Kubica | Poland | BMW | 1m19.493s |
| 13 | Fabio Scherer | Switzerland | Audi | 1m19.511s |
| 14 | Marco Wittmann | Germany | BMW | 1m19.581s |
| 15 | Loïc Duval | France | Audi | 1m19.587s |
| 16 | Harrison Newey | Great Britain | Audi | 1m19.761s |
