Moscow DTM: Paffett heads Mercedes 1-2-3-4 in wet Saturday qualifying
Mercedes locked out the first two rows of the grid for the Saturday DTM race at Moscow Raceway, as Gary Paffett took his first pole of 2016.
Photo by: ITR eV
Paffett reigned supreme on the drying Volokolamsk track, storming to pole by more than half a second over teammate Robert Wickens.
While second practice on Saturday took place in wet conditions after heavy rainfall in the morning, the inclement weather had largely subsided in time for qualifying, although the surface remained moderately wet.
As such, the wet tyre was the preferred choice for the drivers for most of the session, inaugural Moscow Raceway DTM race winner Maxime Martin sitting atop the timesheets at halfway point with a time some 14 seconds off Friday practice pace.
His time was then bettered by Paffett, who improved to a 1m43.010s with less than five minutes to go and then to a 1m42.881s shortly thereafter.
The pace was increased dramatically in the final seconds of the session, with a number of cars gambling on slick tyres.
However, both Paffett and Wickens stuck to the wet compound and occupied the front row at the end, the Briton's pole time a 1m41.443s.
Paul di Resta and Maximilian Gotz, who both went with the slick gamble, took third and fourth - and were the final drivers within a second of Paffett.
Mattias Ekstrom was best of the rest for Audi in fifth, ahead of the lead BMW of Martin, Timo Scheider and Timo Glock.
Felix Rosenqvist was a superb ninth in his debut DTM qualifying, and will be joined on the fifth row by championship contender Jamie Green.
Green and fellow Audi title hopeful Edoardo Mortara in P12 will both get a shot at making up ground on points leader Marco Wittmann in Saturday's race, the BMW driver qualifying a subdued 20th.
Qualifying results
Pos. | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Gary Paffett | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'41.443 | |
2 | 6 | Robert Wickens | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'42.048 | 0.605 |
3 | 3 | Paul di Resta | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'42.130 | 0.687 |
4 | 84 | Maximilian Götz | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'42.164 | 0.721 |
5 | 5 | Mattias Ekström | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'42.450 | 1.007 |
6 | 36 | Maxime Martin | BMW M4 DTM | 1'42.506 | 1.063 |
7 | 10 | Timo Scheider | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'42.631 | 1.188 |
8 | 16 | Timo Glock | BMW M4 DTM | 1'42.631 | 1.188 |
9 | 88 | Felix Rosenqvist | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'42.647 | 1.204 |
10 | 53 | Jamie Green | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'42.870 | 1.427 |
11 | 27 | Adrien Tambay | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'43.015 | 1.572 |
12 | 48 | Edoardo Mortara | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'43.024 | 1.581 |
13 | 7 | Bruno Spengler | BMW M4 DTM | 1'43.076 | 1.633 |
14 | 18 | Augusto Farfus | BMW M4 DTM | 1'43.140 | 1.697 |
15 | 13 | Antonio Felix da Costa | BMW M4 DTM | 1'43.472 | 2.029 |
16 | 17 | Miguel Molina | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'43.500 | 2.057 |
17 | 51 | Nico Müller | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'43.521 | 2.078 |
18 | 22 | Lucas Auer | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'43.660 | 2.217 |
19 | 100 | Martin Tomczyk | BMW M4 DTM | 1'43.830 | 2.387 |
20 | 11 | Marco Wittmann | BMW M4 DTM | 1'43.856 | 2.413 |
21 | 31 | Tom Blomqvist | BMW M4 DTM | 1'43.881 | 2.438 |
22 | 12 | Daniel Juncadella | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'43.985 | 2.542 |
23 | 99 | Mike Rockenfeller | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'44.488 | 3.045 |
24 | 8 | Christian Vietoris | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'44.800 | 3.357 |
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