Corvette driver Gounon (22, F, Callaway Competition) went into the lead at the head of the field at the very last moment. With a time of 1.28.147 minutes, the Frenchman was only 45 thousandths of a second faster than Auer (22, A, BWT Mücke Motorsport). Gounon: "We had a really good day today. The circuit obviously suits the Corvette, but the team have hit on a really terrific setup for the car. We'll now have to see how things go on Saturday."

DTM championship leader Auer was also pleased with his debut in the Super Sports Car League: "Today was great. I feel quite at ease in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 but still have a lot to learn, because I keep making small mistakes. Still, it's great fun, and I keep improving with every lap."

Another Mercedes-AMG pairing followed in third place with Luca Stolz (21, DEU) and Luca Ludwig (27, DEU, both Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED). They missed P2 by just 0.01 seconds. Rolf Ineichen (39, CH) and Christian Engelhart (30, DEU) finished fourth in the fastest Lamborghini Huracán GT3 prepared by local favourites GRT Grasser Racing Team. Indy Dontje (24, NL) and Marvin Kirchhöfer (23, DEU, both Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport) completed the Top Five in another Mercedes-AMG GT3. BMW drivers Ricky Collard (20, GB) and Philipp Eng (27, A, both BMW Team Schnitzer) placed sixth.

The gaps between cars were once again very small, as around one second covered 17 cars after 60 minutes of practice. The race weekend will continue tomorrow for the Super Sports Car League with the first qualifying session at 9.20am and the first race at 1.15pm.