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Qualifying report

Lausitz DTM: Auer snatches second career pole

Mercedes driver Lucas Auer took his second DTM pole in Sunday qualifying at the Lausitzring, improving in the final seconds of the session.

Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke, Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM

Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke, Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM

Alexander Trienitz

Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke, Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM
Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke, Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM
Christian Vietoris, Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke, Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM
Timo Glock, BMW Team RMG, BMW M4 DTM
Timo Glock, BMW Team RMG, BMW M4 DTM
Marco Wittmann, BMW Team RMG, BMW M4 DTM

Auer's pole was also Mercedes' second of the 2016 season - and the marque enjoyed a front row lockout to boot, with Christian Vietoris finishing 0.07s off.

The German, however, is subject of a stewards' investigation over blocking.

The Mercedes contingent led the early stages of the 20-minute session, with Maximilian Gotz emerging as best of the marque on a 1m17.227s.

However, he would be surpassed as the halfway point of qualifying approached, with BMW's Marco Wittmann taking over with a 1m17.061, while Timo Glock and the leading Audi of Mattias Ekstrom followed Gotz close in third and fourth.

During the mid-session lull, Bruno Spengler, running out of sequence with the rest of the pack, moved up to second, a tenth off fellow BMW DTM champion Wittmann.

With two minutes left on the clock, Robert Wickens improved from 17th to first with a 1m17.000s lap, with Gary Paffett ending up 0.030s adrift.

And the floodgates opened from that point on, Auer setting a 1m16.861s, with Vietoris and Glock also dipping below 1m17s.

Wickens looked to respond, setting a session-best S1 but losing time over the rest of the lap.

As such, it was pole for Auer, with Vietoris, Glock and Wickens making up the top four.

Mike Rockenfeller edged Paffett by 0.001s to end up as the lead Audi, with Jamie Green, Wittmann and Ekstrom all within half a tenth of Rockenfeller's time.

Tom Blomqvist made up the top 10, with yesterday's dominant winner Miguel Molina only 14th.

Qualifying results

Pos. Driver Team Time Gap
1 Lucas Auer Mercedes 1:16.861  
2 Christian Vietoris Mercedes 1:16.931 0.070
3 Timo Glock BMW 1:16.943 0.082
4 Robert Wickens Mercedes 1:17.000 0.139
5 Mike Rockenfeller Audi 1:17.029 0.168
6 Gary Paffett Mercedes 1:17.030 0.169
7 Jamie Green Audi 1:17.044 0.183
8 Marco Wittmann BMW 1:17.061 0.200
9 Mattias Ekstrom Audi 1:17.076 0.215
10 Tom Blomqvist BMW 1:17.142 0.281
11 Maximilian Gotz Mercedes 1:17.147 0.286
12 Maxime Martin BMW 1:17.162 0.301
13 Bruno Spengler BMW 1:17.167 0.306
14 Miguel Molina Audi 1:17.184 0.323
15 Nico Muller Audi 1:17.211 0.350
16 Esteban Ocon Mercedes 1:17.219 0.358
17 Antonio Felix da Costa BMW 1:17.399 0.538
18 Dani Juncadella Mercedes 1:17.408 0.547
19 Augusto Farfus BMW 1:17.482 0.621
20 Adrien Tambay Audi 1:17.495 0.634
21 Paul di Resta Mercedes 1:17.510 0.649
22 Edoardo Mortara Audi 1:17.515 0.654
23 Timo Scheider Audi 1:17.730 0.869
24 Martin Tomczyk BMW 1:18.003 1.142

 

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