Nobody was faster than the pairing of Oscar Tunjo (27/COL) / Julien Apothéloz (22/CHE, van ommen racing by DataLab) in the first free practice session of the Prototype Cup Germany at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Lying fourth with a good minute of the session remaining, Tunjo promptly landed the number six Duqueine at the top of the timing sheet, replacing Elia Sperandio (17/CHE ) and Lucas Mauron (25/CHE, BHK Motorsport) who were second fastest. Robin Rogalski (22/POL ) / Valentino Catalano (17/Westheim, DKR Engineering), Gabriela Jílkova (28/CZE ) / Xavier Lloveras (23/ESP, van ommen racing by DataLab) and Laurens Hörr (25/Gerlingen ) / Matthias Lüthen (42/Hamburg, Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport) completed the top five.

Oscar Tunjo was a happy man when he climbed out of his prototype after setting the fastest time of all the drivers. “This is the first time I have driven an LMP3 car in Oschersleben. We tried out a few things and did some long runs. The fact that I set the fastest lap time in the end was partly down to the fact that the car was getting lighter all the time, because of the ever-decreasing amount of fuel on board.” His team-mate Apothéloz was also a happy man. “On the whole, it went very well for us. We are ready for the first qualifying session on Saturday.” Unlike his Columbian partner, the Swiss cannot call on any experience in Formula racing. “I come from a GT3 and GT4 background, but have a good teacher in Oscar.” Tunjo was happy to repay the compliment: “Julien does not need a teacher, he is doing very well.” And he knows: “In this series, it is very important to have a good pair of drivers.”

Tunjo / Apothéloz were just 0.017 seconds faster than Elia Sperandio and Lucas Mauron. “Our performance was good at the tests just over a fortnight ago, and everything came together nicely today too,” said Sperandio, seemingly unsurprised by his second place. The 17-year-old Swiss is contesting the race weekend in Oschersleben alongside compatriot Lucas Mauron, having been the sole driver of his Ligier at the season-opener in Hockenheim. “I think it is good to have a team-mate here. In line with the regulations, we can now complete the pit stop five seconds faster, compare data with each other, and I can discuss things with another driver. Not starting by myself again here is definitely a positive for me.”