Hockenheim DTM: Muller on pole after Rockenfeller penalty

In torrential conditions, it looked as though Muller was destined for pole after coming out on top in the early battle before stringing together two quicker times in the final five minutes to set a 1m50.813s.

That time had placed Muller just 0.002s clear of Rockenfeller but the Phoenix Audi driver improved next time around to take his first provisional pole of 2019 courtesy of a 1m50.800s lap.

But Rockenfeller will not start from the front due to the fact he earned three black and white flag warnings during the 2019 season, taking a five-place grid penalty as a result.

That means Muller will be elevated to pole, with the best-placed BMW of Timo Glock starting alongside him on the front row.  

Audi's Jamie Green will line up third ahead of the BMW's of Joel Eriksson and Philipp Eng, with Rockenfeller slotting into sixth.

Wittmann and eventual champion Rene Rast will line-up next to each other in seventh and eighth.

Robin Frijns and Loic Duval rounded out the top 10, shuffling lead R-Motorsport Aston Martin driver Jake Dennis into 11th ahead of teammate Ferdinand Habsburg.

Their teammates Daniel Juncadella and Paul di Resta had more difficult sessions, qualifying 17th and 18th, with the latter having an off at the Sachskurve before continuing.

The pair placed behind the leading SUPER GT machines of Cassidy, who placed his TOM'S-run Lexus in 16th after his final flying lap.

Jenson Button could only place his Honda in 19th, ahead of WRT Audi's Pietro Fittipaldi, and the final SUPER GT entry of Ronnie Quintarelli will start last and 21st in the NISMO-run Nissan.

Qualifying results:

Cla	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'50.80
2	Nico Müller	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'50.813	0.013
3	Timo Glock	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'51.260	0.460
4	Jamie Green	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'51.391	0.591
5	Joel Eriksson	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'51.489	0.689
6	Marco Wittmann	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'51.788	0.988
7	Philipp Eng	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'51.807	1.007
8	René Rast	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'51.873	1.073
9	Robin Frijns	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'51.990	1.190
10	Loic Duval	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'51.994	1.194
11	Jake Dennis	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'52.242	1.442
12	Ferdinand Habsburg	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'52.374	1.574
13	Jonathan Aberdein	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'52.483	1.683
14	Bruno Spengler	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'52.491	1.691
15	Sheldon Van Der Linde	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'52.511	1.711
16	Nick Cassidy	Lexus LC500	1'52.527	1.727
17	Paul di Resta	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'52.534	1.734
18	Daniel Juncadella	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'52.652	1.852
19	Jenson Button	Honda NSX-GT	1'52.787	1.987
20	Pietro Fittipaldi	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'53.410	2.610
21	Tsugio Matsuda	Nissan/ R35	1'53.875	3.075
View full results