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Qualifying report

Assen DTM: Rast takes Race 2 pole, disaster for Wittmann

DTM championship leader Rene Rast left it late to seal pole position for the final race at Assen in a dramatic qualifying session.

René Rast, Audi Sport Team Rosberg, Audi RS 5 DTM

René Rast, Audi Sport Team Rosberg, Audi RS 5 DTM

Alexander Trienitz

Rast trailed Audi stablemate Robin Frijns after the first qualifying runs, helped by the German getting blocked twice by the BMWs of Sheldon Van Der Linde and Saturday race winner Marco Wittmann.

Both drivers remain under investigation for blocking, with Wittmann enduring a disastrous qualifying session less than 24 hours after victory. 

Wittmann was unable to produce a flying lap after reporting a loss of power before blocking Rast and a rapid repair job by his RMG BMW crew meant he was able to rejoin the session in the final minute, but he could not cross the line to begin a timed lap before the session ended.

Rast was also given a further boost in his run to pole when the second runs began, as Frijns came to a stop in the pitlane and was unable to head back out. 

That meant Rast's 1m24.849s lap was good enough for pole by just 0.132s after WRT Audi driver Jonathan Aberdein surprised by placing his RS5 DTM on the front row of the grid. 

Aberdein's run shuffled Audi's Mike Rockenfeller, Nico Muller and Frijns down to third, fourth and fifth respectively. 

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Van der Linde was the best-placed BMW in sixth ahead of Loic Duval, the Audi driver having held third after the first qualifying runs. 

Philipp Eng was second best of the BMW contingent in eighth ahead of stablemate Timo Glock and WRT Audi's Pietro Fittipaldi

Top Aston Martin driver Daniel Juncadella placed 14th ahead of R-Motorsport teammates Paul di Resta, Ferdinand Habsburg and Jake Dennis, with Wittmann lining up last in 18th.

Session results:

Cla # Driver Car Time Gap
1 33 Germany René Rast
Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM 1'24.849
2 27 South Africa Jonathan Aberdein
Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM 1'24.981 0.132
3 99 Germany Mike Rockenfeller
Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM 1'25.017 0.168
4 51 Switzerland Nico Müller
Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM 1'25.018 0.169
5 4 Netherlands Robin Frijns
Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM 1'25.102 0.253
6 31 South Africa Sheldon Van Der Linde
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 1'25.147 0.298
7 28 France Loic Duval
Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM 1'25.388 0.539
8 25 Austria Philipp Eng
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 1'25.410 0.561
9 16 Germany Timo Glock
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 1'25.468 0.619
10 21 Brazil Pietro Fittipaldi
Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM 1'25.485 0.636
11 47 Sweden Joel Eriksson
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 1'25.517 0.668
12 7 Canada Bruno Spengler
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 1'25.750 0.901
13 53 United Kingdom Jamie Green
Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM 1'25.854 1.005
14 23 Spain Daniel Juncadella
Aston Martin Vantage DTM 1'26.087 1.238
15 3 United Kingdom Paul di Resta
Aston Martin Vantage DTM 1'26.370 1.521
16 62 Austria Ferdinand Habsburg
Aston Martin Vantage DTM 1'26.566 1.717
17 76 United Kingdom Jake Dennis
Aston Martin Vantage DTM 1'27.379 2.530
11 Germany Marco Wittmann
BMW M4 Turbo DTM

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Edition

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