René Rast heads eight Audis in second Brands qualifying
Team Rosberg driver René Rast headed eight Audis in the second qualifying session of the DTM weekend at Brands Hatch as title rival Marco Wittmann made a mistake on his last lap, only managing 12th place.
The session took place in dry conditions and sunny skies in bright contrast to yesterday’s difficult conditions.
WRT were able to repair Pietro Fittipaldi’s RS 5 DTM overnight after yesterday’s shunt, with the Brazilian finishing seventh overall.
Rast secured the pole position with a lap time of 1:15.134, sharing the front row with Audi Sport Team Phoenix’s Loïc Duval, three-tenths behind.
Team Abt Sportsline’s Robin Frijns claimed third, followed by Team Rosberg’s Jamie Green, 0.785 seconds off the pace.
Team Phoenix’s Mike Rockenfeller was fifth, with Team Abt Sportsline’s Nico Müller next, eight-tenths from pole.
WRT drivers Fittipaldi and Jonathan Aberdein completed the top eight for Audi Sport, with the South African 0.881 seconds behind Rast.
Team RBM’s Philipp Eng was the fastest driver for BMW Motorsport in ninth position, more than one second behind Rast’s time. R-Motorsport’s Daniel Juncadella completed the top ten.
Team RMG’s Marco Wittmann, who had a perfect day taking full points on Saturday, had a difficult session today, making a mistake on his penultimate flying lap. Wittmann could only manage to be 12th, 1.162 seconds behind Rast.
Rast said after the session: “I’m more than happy. I had a good feeling this morning, the conditions were perfect for me. We made some adjustments and everything worked fine for me, big thanks to my crew.”
The start of Race 2 is scheduled for 14:30 CEST.
