Nurburgring DTM: Auer snatches last-gasp pole
Mercedes driver Lucas Auer beat BMW's Marco Wittmann to pole position by a tenth of a second in a thrilling Saturday DTM qualifying at a drying Nurburgring.
Polesitter Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team HWA, Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM
Alexander Trienitz
Auer timed his final run to perfection and managed an eleventh-hour 1m25.968s effort to usurp Wittmann at the chequered flag.
The two wet-weather practice sessions that kickstarted the race weekend were both headed by Mercedes, but conditions changed in time for qualifying, with rain abating and the track surface drying rapidly.
Initial runs were still made on rain tyres, with the Mercedes of Robert Wickens eventually assuming control on a 1m33.520s as he headed Audi's Mike Rockenfeller and three of his fellow Silver Arrows drivers.
By that point, however, several teams were ready to gamble on the slicks – and heading into the final minutes, dry tyres were now the preferred choice.
Wickens' benchmark was initially surpassed by Audi duo Loic Duval and Rene Rast, before Timo Glock (BMW) found almost three seconds with a 1m29.278s lap.
But times were dropping further still and, as the chequered flag fell, Wittmann was now in control on a 1m26.067s – only to be beaten at the last second by Auer.
Wickens was four tenths off the pace in third, ahead of Augusto Farfus (BMW), practice pace-setter Paul di Resta (Mercedes) and Tom Blomqvist (BMW).
Audi, saddled with the heaviest car on the grid under the performance weights system, struggled. Championship contender Rast finished as the Ingolstadt marque's top runner in seventh, heading Glock, who was narrowly denied a crucial final run at the chequered flag.
Mercedes' Maro Engel and BMW's Maxime Martin made up the top 10, ahead of Audi's championship leader Mattias Ekstrom and stablemate Rockenfeller.
Qualifying results:
Pos. | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 22 | Lucas Auer | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'25.968 | |
2 | 11 | Marco Wittmann | BMW M4 DTM | 1'26.067 | 0.099 |
3 | 6 | Robert Wickens | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'26.378 | 0.410 |
4 | 15 | Augusto Farfus | BMW M4 DTM | 1'26.484 | 0.516 |
5 | 3 | Paul di Resta | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'26.912 | 0.944 |
6 | 31 | Tom Blomqvist | BMW M4 DTM | 1'27.044 | 1.076 |
7 | 33 | René Rast | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'27.062 | 1.094 |
8 | 16 | Timo Glock | BMW M4 DTM | 1'27.191 | 1.223 |
9 | 63 | Maro Engel | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'27.270 | 1.302 |
10 | 36 | Maxime Martin | BMW M4 DTM | 1'27.446 | 1.478 |
11 | 5 | Mattias Ekström | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'27.682 | 1.714 |
12 | 99 | Mike Rockenfeller | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'27.760 | 1.792 |
13 | 2 | Gary Paffett | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'27.842 | 1.874 |
14 | 53 | Jamie Green | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'28.112 | 2.144 |
15 | 7 | Bruno Spengler | BMW M4 DTM | 1'28.206 | 2.238 |
16 | 48 | Edoardo Mortara | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'28.338 | 2.370 |
17 | 51 | Nico Müller | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'28.625 | 2.657 |
18 | 77 | Loic Duval | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'29.274 | 3.306 |
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