Mattias Ekstrom set the pace in the opening free practice session for this weekend's DTM race at the Norisring.

The Abt Audi driver's 49.893-second lap came in the first half of the 90-minute session and was 0.165sec clear of the chasing field – a massive margin by the standards of this year's DTM and at one of its shortest circuits, too.

Ralf Schumacher, the polesitter here two years ago, was surprisingly his closest challenger. The HWA Mercedes driver had the fastest lap in the second half of the session, but with the times set in the first half generally being quicker across the board, 50.058s was the best he could achieve overall.

Bruno Spengler made it three different manufacturers in the top three places in his Schnitzer BMW while championship leader Gary Paffett was fourth for HWA. Dirk Werner put a second Schnitzer cars inside the top five as Ekstrom's team-mate Timo Scheider completed the top six.

Miguel Molina was seventh quickest in his Phoenix Audi, but caused the session's only red flag and a lengthy delay when he whacked the wall on the exit of the Scholler S and stopped on-track with the resultant damage to his car.

Jamie Green, who was visibly the most committed driver on entry to the final corner, was eighth for HWA with champion Martin Tomcyk (RMG BMW) and Christian Vietoris (HWA Mercedes) completing the top 10.

Less than 0.7sec covered the field while the margin between second-placed Schumacher and David Coulthard in 14th was less than 0.2s.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car          Time     Gap
 1.  Mattias Ekstrom     Abt Audi          49.893s
 2.  Ralf Schumacher     HWA Mercedes      50.058s  + 0.165s
 3.  Bruno Spengler      Schnitzer BMW     50.085s  + 0.192s
 4.  Gary Paffett        HWA Mercedes      50.087s  + 0.194s
 5.  Dirk Werner         Schnitzer BMW     50.107s  + 0.214s
 6.  Timo Scheider       Abt Audi          50.131s  + 0.238s
 7.  Miguel Molina       Phoenix Audi      50.170s  + 0.277s
 8.  Jamie Green         HWA Mercedes      50.171s  + 0.278s
 9.  Martin Tomczyk      RMG BMW           50.208s  + 0.315s
10.  Christian Vietoris  HWA Mercedes      50.211s  + 0.318s
11.  Filipe Albuquerque  Rosberg Audi      50.212s  + 0.319s
12.  Roberto Merhi       Persson Mercedes  50.250s  + 0.357s
13.  Mike Rockenfeller   Phoenix Audi      50.255s  + 0.362s
14.  David Coulthard     Mucke Mercedes    50.259s  + 0.366s
15.  Augusto Farfus      RBM BMW           50.297s  + 0.404s
16.  Adrien Tambay       Abt Audi          50.304s  + 0.411s
17.  Edoardo Mortara     Rosberg Audi      50.319s  + 0.426s
18.  Susie Wolff         Persson Mercedes  50.415s  + 0.522s
19.  Robert Wickens      Mucke Mercedes    50.476s  + 0.583s
20.  Andy Priaulx        RBM BMW           50.521s  + 0.628s
21.  Rahel Frey          Abt Audi          50.566s  + 0.673s
22.  Joey Hand           RMG BMW           50.569s  + 0.676s