Zolder DTM: Wittmann beats Rast to Race 1 pole by 0.042s
BMW's Marco Wittmann took pole position for the opening DTM race at Zolder, beating Audi star Rene Rast by less than half a tenth.
Wittmann set his best time of 1m21.307s during the first run, deposing Audi's Rene Rast from an early top time, and underlining BMW's one-lap advantage over its rival manufacturer.
The DTM field waited until the final minutes to make their second runs, but traffic on the narrow laps hindered most from making improvements at a track where grid position could prove crucial.
That meant the front row of the grid was sealed, with Rast lapping with a personal best time of 1m21.349s, and Bruno Spengler took third with a last lap improvement.
DTM rookie Sheldon van der Linde took fourth ahead of Audi's Robin Frijns to make it three BMWs inside the top five.
Timo Glock was also able to post an improvement on his second run to jump to sixth ahead of Philipp Eng.
Nico Muller, Joel Eriksson and Jamie Green rounded out the top 10 to ensure a BMW advantage of six cars on the first five rows.
The customer WRT Audi squad was 11th and 12th, with Pietro Fittipaldi winning the intra-team battle against Jonathan Aberdein.
Jake Dennis posted a late improvement to lead the R-Motorsport Aston Martin contingent with a time good enough for 13th on the grid, demoting Loic Duval to 14th.
Dennis's time was just over a second off the leading time of Wittmann.
Teammate Dani Juncadella was 15th ahead of Mike Rockenfeller, who took to the radio to tell Audi of a clutch problem.
When he pitted ahead of his second run, he was reported to the stewards for spinning his wheels on the airjack to complete a miserable session.
Paul di Resta - who impressed by qualifying third at Hockenheim - was 17th, the Scotsman locking up at Turn 9 and cutting the chicane during his first run as he and fellow Aston Martin driver Ferdinand Habsburg rounded out the order.
| Cla | Driver | Car | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Marco Wittmann | BMW M4 Turbo DTM | 11 | 1'21.307 | |
| 2 | René Rast | Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM | 9 | 1'21.349 | 0.042 |
| 3 |  Bruno Spengler | BMW M4 Turbo DTM | 9 | 1'21.614 | 0.307 |
| 4 |  Sheldon Van Der Linde | BMW M4 Turbo DTM | 10 | 1'21.744 | 0.437 |
| 5 |  Robin Frijns | Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM | 12 | 1'21.911 | 0.604 |
| 6 | Timo Glock | BMW M4 Turbo DTM | 10 | 1'21.940 | 0.633 |
| 7 |  Philipp Eng | BMW M4 Turbo DTM | 9 | 1'21.995 | 0.688 |
| 8 |  Nico Müller | Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM | 11 | 1'22.079 | 0.772 |
| 9 |  Joel Eriksson | BMW M4 Turbo DTM | 9 | 1'22.082 | 0.775 |
| 10 |  Jamie Green | Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM | 11 | 1'22.143 | 0.836 |
| 11 |  Pietro Fittipaldi | Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM | 11 | 1'22.154 | 0.847 |
| 12 | Jonathan Aberdein | Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM | 11 | 1'22.188 | 0.881 |
| 13 | Jake Dennis | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 10 | 1'22.215 | 0.908 |
| 14 |  Loic Duval | Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM | 11 | 1'22.519 | 1.212 |
| 15 |  Daniel Juncadella | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 10 | 1'22.675 | 1.368 |
| 16 | Mike Rockenfeller | Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM | 11 | 1'22.684 | 1.377 |
| 17 | Paul di Resta | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 9 | 1'22.694 | 1.387 |
| 18 | Ferdinand Habsburg | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 10 | 1'23.240 | 1.933 |
| View full results | |||||
Previous article
Di Resta: Tyre “poker” too risky despite shock Aston lead
Next article
Zolder DTM: Eng scores maiden win as race turns upside down
About this article
| Series | DTM |
| Event | Zolder |
| Sub-event | Qualifying 1 |
| Drivers | Marco Wittmann |
| Author | Tom Errington |
WRT Team Audi Sport – 2020 DTM Season Review
DTM 2020: Audi bids farewell
DTM: Hockenheim - Race 2 Highlights
DTM 2020: Race 1 highlights – Hockenheim
DTM: Hockenheim - Race 1 Highlights
The slow-burner threatening to unseat Audi's DTM king
It's taken him a while to emerge as a consistent title challenger, but in the final year of DTM's Class One ruleset, Nico Muller has smoothed the rough edges and has double champion stablemate Rene Rast working harder than ever to keep up in the title race.
Does 2000 hold the answers to the DTM's current crisis?
It's 20 years since the DTM roared back into life at a packed Hockenheim with a back-to-basics approach as the antidote to its high-tech past. Now it's on its knees again, so is it time to recall the lessons learned in 2000?
Ranking the 10 best Audi DTM drivers
Audi last week announced it would be exiting the DTM at the end of 2020, bringing the curtain down on 20 years of continuous participation since the series' reboot in 2000.
Why the DTM must reinvent itself after Audi exit
Audi's announcement that it will withdraw from the DTM at the end of 2020 was the latest blow for a series that has lost three manufacturers in as many years. Some major soul-searching will now be required to assess how it can survive.
Why cynic Berger changed his mind over green tech in racing
DTM boss Gerhard Berger was a detractor of Formula E and held a reluctance for his series to embrace greener engine technologies. However, this cynic's tune has had to change to ensure DTM's existence as the motorsport world moves forward
What the fallout from Aston's engine split means for 2020
Aston Martin's DTM arrival, via the R-Motorsport outfit, was heralded as a salvation of sorts for the series. After plenty of bumps in the road in 2019, the team finds itself in a similar position to the one it was in 12 months ago. Can it get its act together?
How the DTM and Super GT can build on their experiment
The Class One 'Dream Race' staged by the DTM and SUPER GT proved a hit - from a competitive and collaborative standpoint. The next step will be for both parties to ensure a successful trial ends up being more than just that.
Robot pitcrews and hydrogen – is DTM's concept plausible?
DTM organiser ITR has mooted a radical plan for a "truly new and inspiring" future motorsport series. How realistic are its suggestions of automated pitstops and 1000bhp hydrogen-fuelled touring cars?
