Augusto Farfus takes pole as Glock and Mortara have a spat on track
Augusto Farfus has claimed his first pole position in two years at Circuit Zandvoort in a controversial session, in which BMW’s Timo Glock and Mercedes’ Edoardo Mortara are under investigation for alleged blocking incidents.
The session was one car short, as Mercedes driver Paul di Resta had technical problems that prevented the Scot from taking part, however di Resta is confident he will be able to take the start of the race
The majority of drivers set their best times on their first runs, with Farfus’s time of 1:27.475 standing until the end to give him pole, with fellow BMW drivers Marco Wittmann and Maxime Martin, who complained about traffic preventing him from going faster, next up, completing a 1-2-3 for BMW.
Jamie Green was fourth fastest in his Audi RS 5, two-tenths off the pace.
An incident between Mercedes’ Edoardo Mortara and BMW’s Timo Glock caught the focus of attention in the final five minutes, as the BMW driver came across Mortara on an out lap while he was on his flying lap, and appeared to lose time. The German then slowed in front of the Italian in anger, before returning to the pits. Both drivers were reported to the stewards, with Mortara already under investigation for an earlier incident of blocking, as is Audi’s Nico Müller.
Glock would be classified fifth, followed by the Audis of points leader René Rast and Mike Rockenfeller.
Gary Paffett was the best-placed Mercedes in eighth, with BMW’s Bruno Spengler behind him and the Mercedes of Maro Engel completing the top ten.
Championship contenders Mattias Ekström (Audi) and Lucas Auer (Mercedes) had a tough session, qualifying in 12th and 13th respectively.
Pole-sitter Augusto Farfus said: “Yesterday was a difficult race. We worked on it and we have been competitive since Friday. The car feels good and I’m glad to get things right for the guys in the team. It has been a weird season, so let’s work to get the points we have lost this far. I want to win today and will work to achieve it.”
The start of Race 2 is scheduled for 15:18 CET.
