Audi Sport Team Phoenix driver Loïc Duval set the fastest lap time in the first free practice session at Misano this afternoon, leading six cars from the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer.

The Frenchman recorded a best lap time of 1:27.635, 0.057 seconds ahead of fellow Audi driver at Team Rosberg René Rast.

Nico Müller was third for Team Abt Sportsline, followed by Team WRT’s Jonathan Aberdein, six-tenths off the pace. Duval’s team-mate Mike Rockenfeller followed in fifth position, with the Swiss’ team-mate Robin Frijns in sixth, already over a second behind Duval.

Marco Wittmann was the fastest BMW M4 DTM driver for Team RMG in seventh, ahead of team-mate Bruno Spengler, with Team RBM’s Joel Eriksson and championship leader Philipp Eng completing the top ten.

Pietro Fittipaldi, who’s driving the second RS 5 DTM from Team Rosberg, this weekend replacing recovering Jamie Green, was 11th, 1.5 seconds off the pace.

Daniel Juncadella was the fastest in the R-Motorsport camp, placing his Aston Martin Vantage DTM in 13th place, 1.7 seconds behind Duval.

Audi’s guest driver this weekend Andrea Dovizioso managed to finish in 16th position, 2.1 seconds from the top spot.

The session was largely incident free, although Dovizioso, Rast, Duval and Aberdein suffered punctures during the session.

The second free practice session is scheduled for 18:25 CEST this evening.