Lucas Auer is fastest, but Marco Wittmann takes pole position at Nürburgring
BMW Motorsport driver Marco Wittmann took pole position for today’s DTM Race 1 at the Nürburgring, after finishing in second place in the qualifying session held this afternoon. Mercedes AMG’s Lucas Auer was the fastest man on track, but carries a five-place grid penalty for reaching three warnings back in Moscow.
The session started with Gary Paffett setting the first reference time, being quickly beaten by fellow Mercedes AMG driver Daniel Juncadella with a time of 1:23.593.
Maximilian Götz stole the first position, but Audi’s Jamie Green improved to lead the classification with a time of 1:23.161, followed by Tom Blomqvist and Paul Di Resta.
Meanwhile, Marco Wittmann managed to climb to ninth position. Soon, Lucas Auer would become the fastest Mercedes on track going up to second place. The standings leader improved again to be fifth, but complained about his brakes to his team.
Edoardo Mortara was, meanwhile, struggling. The Italian from Team Abt Sportsline was 19th after his first lap and could only improve to 16th on the second.
As the cars went back to the pits after their first stint, Audi’s Miguel Molina ventured on the track for the first time. The Spaniard managed to climb to tenth position with his first attempt, just 0.362 seconds behind Green. BMW’s Bruno Spengler, on a similar strategy, was 14th after his first flying lap.
All cars were back on track with three minutes to go, allowing themselves one last flying lap. Lucas Auer went fastest with a time of 1:22.900, followed by Marco Wittmann 0.128 seconds behind.
Mercedes AMG’s Daniel Juncadella improved to fifth, with the Spaniard reported to the stewards for blocking, with BMW’s Tom Blomqvist going up to third position.
Edoardo Mortara improved to fifth with the chequered flag already out, with BMW’s Timo Glock climbing up to eighth place. Bruno Spengler was ninth fastest, with Paul Di Resta completing the top ten.
Robert Wickens struggled to keep up the pace from his team mates, finishing in 13th position, 0.488 seconds behind Auer’s time.
Despite being fastest in qualifying, Auer couldn’t celebrate the pole position. The young Austrian received his third warning of the season in Moscow, which translated into a five-position grid drop for today’s race. The number 22 Mercedes will start the race from the 6th spot.
Once again the session was very competitive, with all 24 cars in the DTM field separated by 0.934 seconds.
The start of Race 1 is scheduled for 14:58.
