The Belgian thereby ensured a strong debut for Team WRT in the Super Sports Car League. The Belgian outfit, which has an illustrious record of achievement in international GT sport, is entering the series for the first time this year. In the early evening session, Vanthoor posted a time of 1:22.579 minutes, 0.06 seconds faster than the time set by fellow Audi driver Christopher Mies in the afternoon.
"Having the best time is good for the team," said Vanthoor, who shares the cockpit of the Audi R8 LMS with series newcomer Charles Weerts. "It's obviously great to set the fastest lap at the first attempt. But it's just a test, after all. Nothing really counts until the season opener in two weeks' time. Anyway, it's great to be back at the Lausitzring. The last time I was here was three years ago. I completed a lot of laps today. The conditions in the second session were similar to the first. However, quite a lot of teams were on fresh tyres which meant they were able to improve."
The other top positions in the second session were almost monopolised by Audi R8 LMS cars. Defending champions Patric Niederhauser and Kelvin van der Linde of Rutronik Racing finished second on a time of 1m 22.688s. Fourth place went to team-mates Dennis Marschall and Carrie Schreiner, followed in fifth place by the fastest drivers of the afternoon, Kim-Luis Schramm and Christopher Mies in the Audi R8 LMS fielded by Montaplast by Land-Motorsport. Splitting the Audi quartet in third place were the Callaway Corvette pairing of Jeffrey Schmidt and Markus Pommer.
The fact that no fewer than 19 cars were within one second of each other during the session lasting almost two hours once again underlines the highly competitive nature of the ADAC GT Masters.
Test 1
1. Kim-Luis Schramm / Christopher Mies, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi, 1:22.639 mins
2. Filip Salaquarda / Frank Stippler, Team ISR, Audi, 1:23.117 mins
3. Sven Müller / Robert Renauer, Precote Herberth Motorsport, Porsche, 1:23.150 mins
4. Indy Dontje / Maximilian Götz, HTP-Winward Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG, 1:23.296 mins
5. Maro Engel / Luca Stolz, Toksport WRT, Mercedes-AMG, 1:23.305 mins
Test 2
1. Charles Weerts / Dries Vanthoor, Team WRT, Audi, 1:22.579 mins
2. Patric Niederhauser / Kelvin van der Linde, Rutronik Racing, Audi, 1:22.688 mins
3. Jeffrey Schmidt / Markus Pommer, Callaway Competition, Corvette, 1:22.913 mins
4. Dennis Marschall / Carrie Schreiner, Rutronik Racing, Audi, 1:22.941 mins
5. Kim-Luis Schramm / Christopher Mies, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi, 1:22,960 mins
Combined times for Saturday
1. Charles Weerts / Dries Vanthoor, Team WRT, Audi, 1:22.579 mins
2. Kim-Luis Schramm / Christopher Mies, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi, 1:22.639 mins
3. Patric Niederhauser / Kelvin van der Linde, Rutronik Racing, Audi, 1:22.688 mins
4. Jeffrey Schmidt / Markus Pommer, Callaway Competition, Corvette, 1:22.913 mins
5. Dennis Marschall / Carrie Schreiner, Rutronik Racing, Audi, 1:22.941 mins