Photo: DTM Media

Daniel Juncadella takes his third pole position at a very wet Red Bull Ring

Mercedes-AMG driver Daniel Juncadella scored his second third position of the season in the qualifying session for Race 1 at the Red Bull Ring under very difficult weather conditions, with a very wet track and poor visibility.

12 drivers managed to complete a first flying lap before the session was suspended with a red flag because of the poor visibility. At that point, Audi driver Nico Müller and Mike Rockenfeller headed the time sheets, with the Swiss setting a best lap time of 1:43.892.

Audi Sport Team Rosberg’s Jamie Green said from the cockpit: “The conditions are mega wet, so visibility is very bad. Had some aquaplaning on the main straight, so even in the straight the car is sliding. We have to wait to see how the conditions evolve.”

As the rain stopped the session resumed with 15 minutes on the clock, with the entire field promptly heading onto the track.

Lap times improved quickly with each driver crossing the start/finish line. Paul di Resta went fastest with five minutes to go but had his lap time cancelled as he had gone over the track limits gaining time advantage.

Audi Sport Team Rosberg’s René Rast and di Resta’s team-mates Edoardo Mortara and Pascal Wehrlein also suffering the same fate, with the 2015 champion starting from the back of the grid because of a five-position grid drop penalty due to reaching his third warning of the season in the last round at the Nürburgring.

Juncadella rose to the top with four minutes to go with a best lap time of 1:36.071, as rain started falling again, with BMW Team RMG’s Timo Glock improving to be second, 0.071 seconds behind the Spaniard.

Audi Sport Team Phoenix’ Mike Rockenfeller was third, with Mercedes-AMG’s and title challenger Paul di Resta next, four-tenths behind his team-mate.

Marco Wittmann was fifth for BMW Team RMG, followed by local driver Lucas Auer, who was already seven-tenths off the pace in his Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM. Wittmann’s team-mate Augusto Farfus was next.

Audi drivers Robin Frijns and René Rast followed, with the reigning champion ninth a full second behind Juncadella. Championship leader Gary Paffett (Mercedes-AMG) completed the top ten.

Juncadella said after the session: “This is a great feeling as this is my first pole in the wet. The car was great and I had a really good lap. Then it started raining, so yes, it feels amazing to be on pole at this great track after a difficult weekend at the Nürburgring so yeah, let´s go for it in the race!”

The start of Race 1 is scheduled for 13:30 CEST.