Red Bull-backed Liam Lawson set the early pace on Day 3 of the Lausitzring test after the track dried out enough for slick tyre running, leading the timesheets with a 1m43.740s lap in the #30 Ferrari 488 GT3.
Haupt Racing Team’s Gotz then managed to shave three tenths out of Lawson’s benchmark to go quickest, before GetSpeed rival Arjun Maini set the fastest lap of the week so far – a 1m43.118s – to take the command in the morning session.
But Gotz managed to break the 1m43s barrier in the afternoon, and despite a last-gasp attempt from Lawson with just 10 minutes remaining in the session, Gotz’s time of 1m42.744s remained unbeaten at the end of the day.
Alex Albon made it two Red Bull-backed drivers in the top three with a time of 1m43.070s in the AlphaTauri-livered Ferrari, with Philip Ellis finishing just 0.038s adrift of the Thai driver in fourth in the Winward Mercedes.
Former Formula 2 driver Maini ended up fifth in the final order of the day, edging out five-time race DTM winner Lucas Auer (Winward Mercedes) and the second HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Vincent Abril.
DTM returnee Daniel Juncadella ended up eighth in the timesheets, while Kelvin van der Linde’s morning effort of 1m43.552s was good enough for ninth place.
Van der Linde’s Abt Audi team-mate Sophia Floersch completed the top 10, while Dev Gore propped up the timesheets for Team Rosberg Audi.
The DTM again held a separate 20-minute session to finalise the BoP for the start of its GT3 era, with at least two cars from each manufacturer required to go out on a low-fuel run to simulate a qualifying session.
Alex Albon, AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Albon clocked the circuit in 1m42.904s to end the BoP run quickest of all, beating Gotz, team-mate Lawson and top Audi runner van der Linde.
Only 11 drivers took part on the final day of testing, as Mercedes’ Gary Paffett, Audi driver Nico Muller and Walkenhorst and Rowe Racing BMW teams all had clashing commitments in other championships.
Lamborghini squad J3 Motorsport and McLaren-affiliated JP Motorsport outfit, which is only undertaking a part campaign in DTM this year with ex-Formula 1 driver Christian Klien, skipped the entire three-day test.
Lausitzring DTM test – Day 3 results:
1. Maximilian Gotz (HRT-Mercedes) 1:42.744 (61)
2. Liam Lawson (AF-Corse-Ferrari) 1:42.840 (75)
3. Alex Albon (AF-Corse-Ferrari) 1:43.070 (73)
4. Philip Ellis (Winward-Mercedes) 1:43.108 (57)
1. Arjun Maini (GetSpeed-Mercedes) 1:43.118 (59)
5. Lucas Auer (Winward-Mercedes) 1:43.180 (58)
6. Vincent Abril (HRT-Mercedes) 1:43.353 (47)
7. Daniel Juncadella (GruppeM-Mercedes) 1:43.428 (65)
8. Kelvin van der Linde (Abt-Audi) 1:43.560 (82)
10. Sophia Floersch (Abt-Audi) 1:44.420 (77)
11. Dev Gore (Rosberg-Audi) 1:45.087 (82)
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