Qualifying report
DTM Nurburgring
Nurburgring DTM: Albon scores maiden pole in wet qualifying
Red Bull Formula 1 protege Alex Albon claimed his maiden pole position in the DTM in a wet qualifying session at the Nurburgring, beating the Mercedes of Daniel Juncadella by two tenths of a second.
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Aug 22, 2021, 9:11 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Although track conditions visibility deteriorated in the final minutes due to a late shower, Albon was able to improve to a 1m36.773s towards the end of the session to take the top spot in the AF Corse-run Ferrari.
HRT Mercedes driver Maximilian Gotz led the majority of qualifying with his early effort of 1m37.130s on full wet tyres, with championship leader Kelvin van der Linde holding second in the Abt Sportsline Audi.
Toksport Mercedes’ guest driver Luca Stolz matched the time of Gotz in the second half of the session, before Juncadella became the first driver to depose the German from the top in the GruppeM Mercedes with a 1m36.958s.
Around this time, Albon was slowly moving up the timesheets, jumping from eighth to fourth before posting a 1m37.053s to capture second spot behind Juncadella.
The Anglo-Thai driver then found more time on his final flying lap, breaching the 1m37s barrier to score his and Ferrari’s first pole in the DTM.
Juncadella held on to second with his previous effort, while Walkenhorst BMW driver Marco Wittmann leapt to third late on with an impressive time of 1m37.056s.
The two-time DTM champion demoted the SSR Performance Porsche of Michael Ammermuller to the outside of the second row, with Gotz eventually ending up fifth after failing to improve on his previous time.
Van der Linde, who will carry 25kg of success ballast in the race, was Audi’s top qualifier in seventh behind Stolz, with ex-Formula 1 driver Christian Klien eighth in the JP Motorsport McLaren.
The top 10 was completed by the second Abt Audi of Mike Rockenfeller and T3 Lamborghini’s Esteban Muth.
Liam Lawson qualified 11th in the second AF Corse Ferrari, while Rowe Racing BMW’s Sheldon van der Linde could manage no better than 16th despite setting a fastest first sector.
Markus Winkelhock qualified down in 22nd in the third Abt Audi after an eventual qualifying session, where he ran off track multiple times in difficult weather conditions.
Qualifying results:
Cla # Driver Car Time Gap 1 23 Alex Albon
Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 1'36.773 2 8 Daniel Juncadella
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 1'36.958 0.185 3 11 Marco Wittmann
BMW M6 GT3 1'37.056 0.283 4 92 Michael Ammermüller
Porsche 911 GT3 R 1'37.122 0.349 5 4 Maximilian Götz
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 1'37.130 0.357 6 7 Luca Stolz
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 1'37.130 0.357 7 3 Kelvin van der Linde
Audi R8 LMS Evo 1'37.170 0.397 8 15 Christian Klien
McLaren 720S GT3 1'37.193 0.420 9 9 Mike Rockenfeller
Audi R8 LMS Evo 1'37.268 0.495 10 10 Esteban Muth
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 1'37.337 0.564 11 30 Liam Lawson
Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 1'37.429 0.656 12 5 Vincent Abril
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 1'37.440 0.667 13 57 Philip Ellis
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 1'37.466 0.693 14 36 Arjun Maini
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 1'37.489 0.716 15 12 Christopher Haase
Audi R8 LMS Evo 1'37.606 0.833 16 31 Sheldon Van Der Linde
BMW M6 GT3 1'37.631 0.858 17 18 Maximilian Buhk
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 1'37.634 0.861 18 51 Nico Müller
Audi R8 LMS Evo 1'37.664 0.891 19 6 Hubert Haupt
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 1'37.923 1.150 20 16 Timo Glock
BMW M6 GT3 1'37.932 1.159 21 22 Lucas Auer
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 1'37.940 1.167 22 99 Markus Winkelhock
Audi R8 LMS Evo 1'37.988 1.215 23 26 Esmee Hawkey
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 1'38.041 1.268 View full results
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Nurburgring DTM: Van der Linde extends lead with commanding win
Next article Nurburgring DTM: Dominant Albon claims maiden win in Race 2
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Rachit Thukral
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
MotoGP
MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP
MotoGP
Australian GP
17 h
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
Latest news
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
8 h
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
9 h
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
9 h
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe