With the track conditions and temperatures improving lap by lap, it was the No.7 Audi R18 etron quattro that emerged fastest, with Andre Lotterer setting a best of 1m39.201. The time was good enough for P1 despite the best efforts of Neel Jani in the No.18 Porsche 919 Hybrid who got within 0.076s of Lotterer’s ultimate quickest tour.

It was Audi/Porsche for third and fourth with the No.8 Audi just 0.005s ahead of the No.17 Porsche 919 Hybrid! With the top four covered by just 0.7s, FP1 was a mouth-watering start to what looks set to be a classic all-German fight for supremacy in the 6 Hours of Nurburgring on Sunday.

Toyota Racing completed the session in fifth and sixth with the No.2 Toyota Racing heading the reigning champion No.1 TS 040 HYBRID. Stephane Sarrazin and Sebastein Buemi set the times respectively.

Rebellion Racing was the lead LMP1 privateer with Nick Heidfeld setting a time of 1m47.433s at his home circuit in the Rebellion R-One-AER.

G-Drive Racing secured a 1-2 in LMP2 with the No.26 Ligier-Nissan heading the No.28 sister car. Gustavo Yacaman set the time of 1m46.631s which was almost a second clear of his stablemate Sam Bird’s time. The No.26 car however was confined to the pits for the first half of the session.

In LMGTE Pro it was reigning champions AF Corse who sat atop the times with Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander leading the way with a best of 1m55.661s, set by Bruni.

The LMGTE Am class also saw AF Corse at the top with the No.83 Ferrari 458 Italia quickest on a 1m57.876s. Rui Aguas set the fastest lap as the team aims to continue its fine start to the season which has so far netted them a podium position in every race.

The 90-minute session was briefly halted to recover the ByKolles Racing entry after Simon Trummer spun at the final corner.

The second Free Practice session will begin at 16.30 local time.

CLICK HERE for the results from FP1