Photo: DTM Media

Philipp Eng takes pole at Hockenheim by four-tenths of a second

By

BMW Motosport has continued their strong start to the season by claiming pole position for DTM Race 2 at a dry Hockenheim, with Philipp Eng ahead by four-tenths of a second from yesterday’s winner Marco Wittmann.

Several drivers, including BMW’s Timo Glock and Audi’s Loïc Duval and Mike Rockenfeller, had laps erased due to not respecting the track limits at Turn 1, with Audi’s Robin Frijns and René Rast and R-Motorsport’s Ferdinand Habsburg and Jake Dennis also with the same fate.

Audi Sport Team Abt Sportline’s René Rast’s woes continued, as the 2017 champion bounced his RS 5 DTM very hard over the curbs at Turn 1, returning to the pits slowly, with the Audi mechanics frantic at work with just five minutes to go.

The field returned to the track with just four minutes left on the clock for their final run, with Rast also going out a minute later.

Wittmann was on top but fellow Team RBM driver Eng improved to first with just seconds to spare. Wittmann tried to respond, setting a purple first sector on his final lap, but a mistake in the second sector ruined his attempt.

Eng claimed pole position with a best lap time of 1:28.972, the only driver to break the 1:29 barrier. Wittmann was second, 0.416 seconds behind, with Frijns in third, 0.740 seconds behind.

Team Abt Sportline’s Nico Müller qualified in fourth at the wheel of his RS 5 DTM, with BMW Team RMG’s Bruno Spengler and Timo Glock next. Audi Sport Team Rosbert’s Jamie Green was seventh, 0.939 seconds behind Eng, with Duval in eighth.

BMW Team RBM drivers Joel Eriksson and Sheldon van der Linde completed the top ten, with the young South African rookie having spent most of the season in the top half of the classification.

Audi customer team WRT driver Jonathan Aberdein the fastest among the rookies in 12th place, 1.150 seconds off the pace at the wheel of his Audi RS 5 DTM.

Daniel Juncadella was again the fastest of the Aston Martin Vantage DTMs in 14th position, 1.3 seconds behind pole sitter Eng.

The start of Race 2 is scheduled for 13:30 CEST.