Hockenheim DTM: Da Costa on pole again, title rivals on row three
Antonio Felix da Costa completed a qualifying sweep in his final DTM weekend at Hockenheim, as championship leader Marco Wittmann headed rival Edoardo Mortara.
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Audi driver Mortara's title challenge looked in dire straits early on in the session as he didn't set a time until the last moment - but the Italian recovered to finish just behind Wittmann and qualify sixth.
Sunday practice had provided an ominous start to the title-deciding day for BMW, with Audi locking out the top four and points leader Wittmann going only 17th.
But it was Mercedes taking control of qualifying initially, Gary Paffett posting the first sub-1m33s lap of the session at 1m32.766.
By halfway point, Paffett's lap still remained good enough for P1, while Wittmann and practice pacesetter Nico Muller sat second and third.
Mortara, however, was in serious trouble, pitting from his first run without setting a time due to what appeared to be a technical issue.
The title contender radioed in: "the bad luck we have this weekend is absolutely ridiculous," and was soon sent back to the track, doing only an out-lap and then pitting again.
With four minutes to go, Saturday poleman da Costa moved up to first on a 1m32.632s lap on new tyres – and improved to a 1m32.525s with his second effort.
Teammate Tom Blomqvist climbed to second, 0.064s off, before Paffett secured a front row spot, missing out on pole by just 0.014s.
Maxime Martin was fourth behind Blomqvist, while Wittmann ended up fifth despite improving to just 0.091s off pole at the chequered flag.
Mortara, who got two flying laps in the dying moments of the session, ended up by far the top Audi in sixth, heading Robert Wickens, Timo Glock, Christian Vietoris and Jamie Green.
Series veterans Martin Tomczyk and Timo Scheider, who are retiring from the series after Sunday's race, were 18th and 19th.
For Mortara to become champion, he needs to either finish first and have Witmann end up sixth or lower, or finish second with Wittmann 10th or lower.
Qualifying results
Pos. | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 13 | Antonio Felix da Costa | BMW M4 DTM | 1'32.525 | 177.967 | |
2 | 2 | Gary Paffett | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'32.539 | 0.014 | 177.940 |
3 | 31 | Tom Blomqvist | BMW M4 DTM | 1'32.589 | 0.064 | 177.844 |
4 | 36 | Maxime Martin | BMW M4 DTM | 1'32.601 | 0.076 | 177.820 |
5 | 11 | Marco Wittmann | BMW M4 DTM | 1'32.616 | 0.091 | 177.792 |
6 | 48 | Edoardo Mortara | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'32.644 | 0.119 | 177.738 |
7 | 6 | Robert Wickens | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'32.769 | 0.244 | 177.498 |
8 | 16 | Timo Glock | BMW M4 DTM | 1'32.805 | 0.280 | 177.430 |
9 | 8 | Christian Vietoris | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'32.810 | 0.285 | 177.420 |
10 | 53 | Jamie Green | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'32.818 | 0.293 | 177.405 |
11 | 18 | Augusto Farfus | BMW M4 DTM | 1'32.821 | 0.296 | 177.399 |
12 | 7 | Bruno Spengler | BMW M4 DTM | 1'32.858 | 0.333 | 177.328 |
13 | 22 | Lucas Auer | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'32.888 | 0.363 | 177.271 |
14 | 51 | Nico Müller | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'32.911 | 0.386 | 177.227 |
15 | 88 | Felix Rosenqvist | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'32.929 | 0.404 | 177.193 |
16 | 27 | Adrien Tambay | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'32.938 | 0.413 | 177.176 |
17 | 99 | Mike Rockenfeller | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'32.956 | 0.431 | 177.141 |
18 | 3 | Paul di Resta | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'32.990 | 0.465 | 177.077 |
19 | 100 | Martin Tomczyk | BMW M4 DTM | 1'33.002 | 0.477 | 177.054 |
20 | 10 | Timo Scheider | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'33.007 | 0.482 | 177.044 |
21 | 12 | Daniel Juncadella | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'33.059 | 0.534 | 176.945 |
22 | 17 | Miguel Molina | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'33.082 | 0.557 | 176.902 |
23 | 72 | René Rast | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'33.158 | 0.633 | 176.757 |
24 | 84 | Maximilian Götz | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'33.280 | 0.755 | 176.526 |
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