Maro Engel set the pace on the second day of DTM testing at Valencia on Thursday, while reigning champion Timo Scheider took second for Audi despite sitting out half of the day with technical problems.
Two-time champion Scheider had set the pace in the morning, but his best lap was narrowly beaten by Engel's 2008-spec Mercedes in the afternoon. Mattias Ekstrom was next up as just 0.043sec covered the top three cars, while Audi rookie Miguel Molina was fourth in his 2008-spec A4.
Bruno Spengler was the best driver of a top Mercedes for the second day running ahead of his HWA teammate Ralf Schumacher, while Mike Rockenfeller was seventh after returning from Sebring where he crashed the Audi R15 prototype earlier this week.
Susie Stoddart edged former Champ Car driver Katherine Legge by just one hundredth of a second to take the eighth-fastest time, while Franky Cheng brought up the rear for Mercedes as just 0.6sec covered the field.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1. Maro Engel Mercedes 1m28.949s 90
2. Timo Scheider Audi 1m28.957s + 0.008s 32
3. Mattias Ekstrom Audi 1m28.992s + 0.043s 96
4. Miguel Molina Audi 1m29.128s + 0.179s 120
5. Bruno Spengler Mercedes 1m29.205s + 0.256s 77
6. Ralf Schumacher Mercedes 1m29.345s + 0.396s 117
7. Mike Rockenfeller Audi 1m29.397s + 0.448s 94
8. Susie Stoddart Mercedes 1m29.578s + 0.629s 97
9. Katherine Legge Audi 1m29.588s + 0.639s 109
10. Franky Cheng Mercedes 1m29.597s + 0.648s 87