Lucas Auer scores first career pole position at the Nürburgring
ART Mercedes driver Lucas Auer has taken pole position for the first race of the weekend at the Nürburging, producing a lap of 1:21.915 within the dying moments of qualifying to drop BMW driver Maxime Martin to second, with championship leader Pascal Wehrlein qualifying in third.
Fog had threatened to disrupt the day’s running order, with Porsche Carrera Cup Germany’s qualifying postponed with the Audi TT Cup qualifying session running in its place just prior to the DTM qualifying session.
Qualifying started as scheduled as 10:15 CET, with BMW Team RMG’s Maxime Martin setting the first target with a time of 1:22.764 in his BMW M4 DTM, before ART Mercedes driver Gary Paffett took over at the top of the time sheets with a time of 1:22.589, improving his time on his second run to 1:22.334 to lead after five minutes.
There was drama for HWA Mercedes’ Paul di Resta, who spun his C-Coupé just before halfway through the session and sustained damage to the rear of his car, returning to the pits for repairs. This was folloed in short order by a crash for Audi Sport Team Abt’s Adrien Tambay, who slid off in his RS 5 and hit the tyre barriers head-on.
Tambay dragged the car back on to the track but was unable to recover to the pit lane, which brought about a red flag stoppage, giving the marshals the opportunity to gather up the debris from both Tambay’s crash and di Resta’s off a few minutes earlier.
When the session resumed, Mike Rockenfeller put his Audi Sport Team Phoenix RS 5 on top, finding another three-tenths of a second over Paffett, before Maxime Martin took point again in the RMG BMW, the first driver under the 1:22 barrier, just, with a time of 1:21.999.
Championship leader Pascal Wehrlein, running with the most weight this weekend with a 1,130kg Mercedes C-Coupé was able to move up to second overall just 0.031 behind Martin, but a stunning lap from 21-year-old Austrian Lucas Auer saw him grab his first pole position in the DTM.
Bruno Spengler qualified fourth, with the best placed Audi that of Edoardo Mortara in fifth position, just 0.153 off the pace, while Wehrlein’s closest rival in the championship, Mattias Ekström, was only 17th fastest in his Audi RS 5.
Paul di Resta and Adrian Tambay failed to set a time before their offs and will start near the back of the grid. Martin Tomczyk also didn’t set a time in his BMW Team Schitzer M4, opting only to set an installation lap. The German driver has an engine change penalty, and will be forced to start last in any case.
The first race is due to take place at 13:25 CET.
