Photo: Tamara Aller / TouringCarTimes

Miguel Molina storms to pole at the Lausitzring

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Audi Sport Team Abt driver Miguel Molina set the fastest time at the qualifying session for race 1 held at the Lausitzring, host of the third round of the 2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season, this afternoon. The Spaniard clocked a best lap of 1:16.619 in his first run to achieve his sixth pole in the series, and first of the year.

The session started under clear, sunny skies and warm temperatures of 24 degrees Celsius, which had been rising since the second free practice this morning.

BMW’s Tom Blomqvist was the first to establish a reference time, with all drivers soon going under the 1:18 barrier. Miguel Molina took the top spot with a time of 1:16.619, beating Mercedes AMG’s Lucas Auer by over three tenths of a second. BMW’s Marco Wittmann went up to second place, with Mattias Ekström in third.

After a first run and just eight minutes, most drivers went back to the pits, with only BMW’s Timo Glock and Bruno Spengler staying out to be eighth and tenth respectively.

The second and final run started with just seven minutes on the clock. Most drivers went out, with the main improvements coming from the Mercedes AMG contingent.

Robert Wickens went up to third place, but the final minutes were spiced by Audi’s Jamie Green going for a fast run. The Briton set a purple first sector, but he made a mistake in the second. In the end, Green went up to second place, 0.077 seconds off the pace.

Marco Wittmann also saved the session for BMW Motorsport in the final moments, pipping Wickens for third place by just 0.021 seconds.

Lucas Auer was again on the pace for Mercedes AMG, in fifth position 0.225 seconds behind Molina, followed by team-mate at Mücke Christian Vietoris.

Mattias Ekström was seventh for Audi Sport, followed by BMW’s Maxime Martin. Audi drivers Adrien Tambay and Nico Müller completed the top 10, with the Swiss driver 0.374 seconds off the pace.

With regards to the leading drivers in the championship table, Edoardo Mortara was 11th, with Timo Glock, who is being investigated for blocking the Italian from Audi Sport, in 14th place. Paul Di Resta was 21st.

Race 1 is scheduled for 15:28 CEST this afternoon.