Winward driver Auer completed 66 laps of the Hockenheim circuit in Germany in a test session on Thursday, where he was joined by five other GT3 and 16 LMP3 cars.
The Austrian set a best lap of 1m37.911s in his Winward Mercedes, putting him comfortably clear of all GT3 entrants that were simultaneously testing at the venue.
Auer had previously taken pole position in last year’s Hockenheim DTM round with a time of 1m36.479s, although the difference in conditions means a direct comparison was not possible.
The 28-year-old was also driving on Pirelli tyres in the test compared to the Michelin rubber he used to convert pole position into victory in the penultimate race of the 2022 DTM season.
The private test was crucial for Auer as he had missed the official DTM running at Spielberg last month, where David Schumacher was the only driver representing his Winward team.
However, while Auer did miss out on two days of valuable running at Spielberg, he was on track at Hockenheim as soon as the session began at 9:00am - and then was among the first to set serious lap times.
His opening stint lasted 12 laps, which was an encouraging sign for his recovery.
Source: Autosport