Oliver Jarvis dominated the opening day of action on the 2009 DTM schedule, topping both morning and afternoon sessions at the official Dijon-Prenois test.

Having set the pace before lunch, the 2008-spec Audi driver went even faster in the afternoon session, clocking the fastest lap at 1min 10.185secs to comfortably head stable-mates Mike Rockenfeller and Mattias Ekström. Both also broke the 1min 11secs barrier in the later session, but remained 0.237secs and 0.494secs shy of Jarvis' Team Phoenix car respectively.

Tom Kristensen and Timo Scheider completed a successful day for the Ingolstadt marque, as Audi routed the top five, with reigning champion Scheider also the busiest driver of the afternoon session. The German's 61 laps represented a total mileage of 231.8km, but his overall total of 97 laps came up short of the combined 100+ efforts of Rockenfeller and Ekstrom.

Mercedes drivers Mathias Lauda and Jamie Green both also exceeded 100 laps during the day, but had to make do with being the fastest Three Pointed Star runners in sixth and seventh spots.

To the surprise of many, Lauda proved to be the fastest AMG C-Class pilot, pushing in ahead of Green and former series champion Gary Paffett with a 1min 11.233secs effort. All three succeeded in improving their personal best times in the afternoon, but Ralf Schumacher failed to do so, lapping 0.114secs slower than 1min 11.583secs he had managed during the morning session. The former F1 race winner ended the day ahead only of Team Kolles Audi newcomers Christijan Bakkerud and Johann Seidlitz, who shared track time.

Green had been third fastest during the morning session, behind only the '08-spec Audis of Jarvis and Rockenfeller, while Schumacher had been sixth overall, behind the latest A4 DTMs of Ekstrom and Scheider.

The Dijon test continues for the next two days [15-16 April] with the entire 2009 field due to hit the track at some point.


Leading performances - Dijon Prenois (14 April)

Oliver Jarvis Phoenix Audi 1m 10.185s 95 laps
Mike Rockenfeller Rosberg Audi 1m 10.422s 109 laps
Mattias Ekström Abt Audi 1m 10.916s 105 laps
Tom Kristensen Abt Audi 1m 11.068s 90 laps
Timo Scheider Abt Audi 1m 11.173s 97 laps
Mattias Lauda AMG Mercedes 1m 11.233s 107 laps
Jamie Green JungeSterne Mercedes 1m 11.254s 103 laps
Gary Paffett Mercedes-Benz Bank Mercedes 1m 11.369s 76 laps
Ralf Schumacher AMG Mercedes 1m 11.583s 71 laps
Christian Bakkerud Kolles Audi 1m 11.910s 41 laps
Johann Seidlitz Kolles Audi 1m 13.020s 7 laps