Lucas Auer takes pole position for Mercedes at Lausitzring

Mercedes AMG Team Mücke driver Lucas Auer took his second career pole position today at the Lausitzring, host of the third round of the 2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season, in the qualifying session held this afternoon. The Austrian led team-mate Christian Vietoris in a front row for Team Mücke, which is racing at home this weekend.

The heat was a key factor, with track temperatures over 42 degrees Celsius and all the teams factoring its effect on car behaviour. Lap times during the session were slower than yesterday’s.

Still, the session was very competitive, with the Mercedes AMG cars expecting a good result favoured by being significantly lighter than their rivals.

Lucas Auer set a best lap of 1:16.861 around the track, with his team-mate Christian Vietoris second 0.070 seconds behind the Austrian, in an all pink C63 DTM front row.

BMW’s Timo Glock was third, 0.082 seconds off the pace, followed by Robert Wickens, in fourth position for Mercedes.

Mike Rockenfeller was the top man for the much heavier Audi Sport team, with Mercedes’ Gary Paffett following suit, 0.169 seconds behind pole position.

Audi’s Jamie Green was next, followed by standings leader Marco Wittmann in eighth place, 0.200 seconds behind Lucas Auer.

Mattias Ekström was ninth for Audi, with BMW’s Tom Blomqvist completing the top ten, only 0.281 seconds off the pace.

The session was again very competitive, with the top 22 drivers in 0.654 seconds, and minimal differences between them.

Race 2 runs for 60 minutes plus one lap, with one compulsory pit stop. Tyre management will be key, especially after yesterday some drivers saved new rubber for today.

The start of race 2 is scheduled for 15:13 CEST.