Porsche duo Güven and Preining switch to attack mode in the title race

• Manthey EMA drivers underline title ambitions with fastest time in practice
• Glock and Dörr follow in third and fourth place for McLaren
• Championship leader Auer is seventh fastest and ready for the DTM showdown

Hockenheim. Porsche driver Ayhancan Güven (TR/Manthey EMA) and his team-mate Thomas Preining (A) are on the offensive at the DTM finale at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. Güven, who lies fifth in the table, set Friday's fastest practice time of 1:37.015 minutes to show that he is still a force to be reckoned with in the historic nine-way battle for the title. "That was a good start to the weekend. We did a good job of successfully working through our qualifying programme. I had a clear track on my flying lap and set a super time. However, if it rains on Saturday then that will really shake things up again. I am looking forward to an exciting finale," said the 27-year-old Turk, who is looking to overturn a 17-point deficit in the title thriller.

Preining made a similar statement in his Porsche 911 GT3 R. The Austrian won the morning's opening session and then set the second-fastest time of the day, 1:37.211 minutes, in FP2 in the afternoon. "I am ready for the finale! There are still a few things to improve on the car, but we already have ideas in that regard. The weather could be a factor at the weekend. I am definitely open to the idea of rain," said the driver currently eighth in the overall standings. Third and fourth place went to the Dörr Motorsport team. Former Formula 1 driver Timo Glock (Kreuzlingen) was third fastest, ahead of his team-mate Ben Dörr (Butzbach) who was fourth in his McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. Gilles Magnus (B/Comtoyou Racing) guided his Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to fifth place.

While Preining set the top time of 1:37.413 minutes in Free Practice 1 at the Hockenheimring, the second session in the afternoon was generally a little faster. The positions were decided shortly before the end of the session. First to hit the top of the timings sheet was last year's champion Mirko Bortolotti (I/Abt Sportsline) in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2. Not long after that, his time was surpassed by Glock and Dörr, before Güven and Preining ultimately took first and second place.

Championship leader Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) is well prepared for the title showdown, having ended practice with the seventh-fastest lap time. His closest rival in the title race, Jordan Pepper (ZA/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT), and third-placed René Rast (Bregenz/Schubert Motorsport) ended the day further down the field.

The first qualifying at the Hockenheimring gets underway at 09:35 on Saturday. Fans can follow the session in a livestream at ran.de. ProSieben is showing all 16 of this season's races live on free-to-air TV, with coverage starting at 13:00 on Saturday and Sunday. The two races will also be streamed live and free of charge on Joyn, ServusTV ON and the YouTube channel @DTM.

All results from Hockenheim can be found at dtm.com/en/results.