Lucas Auer takes last-gasp pole position at a drying Nürburgring

Lucas Auer scored his third pole position of the year in qualifying for Race 1 at the Nürburgring, clocking the best time on his last attempt on a drying track in his Mercedes C63 AMG.

The track was very wet from the outset, but with no further rain falling the track was quickly beginning to dry, with the drivers coming into the pits to mount slicks with just under ten minutes to go.

Audi’s Loïc Duval was the first driver to set a time, although the Frenchman found standing water at Turn 1 on his next attempt and went wide. He would be reported to the stewards for blocking, which will be investigated after the session.

It was a matter of last across the line would be fastest, which worked out perfectly for Mercedes AMG’s Lucas Auer, who was that driver, taking his third pole position of the season with a time of 1:25.968, beating BMW’s Marco Wittmann by one-tenth of a second.

The Austrian’s HWA Mercedes team-mate Robert Wickens was third, four-tenths off the pace, with BMW’s Augusto Farfus next up. Mercedes’ Paul di Resta qualified fifth, followed by BMW’s Tom Blomqvist.

Audi didn’t fare well, with René Rast their fastest driver in seventh, over a second off the pace, followed by BMW’s Timo Glock who, with 20 seconds to go, had held the top spot in the classification.

Mercedes AMG’s Maro Engel was ninth, with BMW’s Maxime Martin completing the top ten.

Audi drivers and championship contenders Mattias Ekström, Mike Rockenfeller and Jamie Green had a dismal session, qualifying in 11th, 12th and 14th positions respectively.

The start of Race 1 is scheduled for 14:48 CET.