Toksport WRT driver Maro Engel clocked the fastest lap time in the first session of the ADAC GT Masters test in Oschersleben, closely followed by defending champion Michael Ammermüller in the best-placed Porsche.

Engel’s time of 1:24.696 minutes was 0.118 seconds faster than last year’s champion, who is sharing the SSR Performance 911 with Mathieu Jaminet. “We tried some stuff out and incorporated a few new ideas in our set-up from last year,” said Engel’s team-mate Luca Stolz. “We gathered some important feedback, but still have a lot of work ahead of us. When there is even more rubber on the track in the coming sessions, we will have to adapt the set-up again.”

In third place, with a time of 1:24.885 minutes in another Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo was Jules Gounon, who returns to the ADAC GT Masters for the first time since winning the title in 2017. “It is great to be back,” said the driver from the Zakspeed Mobil Krankenkasse Racing team. “The car felt very good from the word go. P3 is a good start to the test.”

He was followed in fourth place by Mirko Bortolotti and Albert Costa Balboa in the best-placed Lamborghini, run by the GRT Grasser Racing Team. Their team-mates Rolf Ineichen and Franck Perera completed the top five.