Nico Müller continues on top to secure Lausitzring pole position
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline driver Nico Müller continued his domination at the Lausitzring in the qualifying session for Race 1, host for the third round of the 2020 DTM season with the Grand Prix layout.
The Audi driver claimed his first pole position of the year in wet conditions as Team Rosberg’s René Rast was second, with Müller’s team-mate Robin Frijns in third.
Rain started falling over the Lausitzring during the night, with the DTM field waking up to a very wet track. The conditions continued during the session, with drivers starting the qualifying on wet weather tyres.
With a considerable amount of standing water on the track at the start of the session, lap times and positions improved constantly as a dry line formed.
BMW Team RMG driver Timo Glock spun at Turn 2 as he encountered a water puddle, with his M4 DTM stranded in the gravel trap. The session was red flagged with 12:53 left on the clock and Audi Sport Team Phoenix driver Mike Rockenfeller leading the classification ahead of BMW Team RBM’s Philipp Eng.
Glock was successfully recovered, with the German driver returning to the pits and leaving a substantial amount of gravel on the tarmac. Glock’s qualifying was however over as soon as he returned to his garage as the team had to repair his car.
The last minutes of the session were frantic, with lap times tumbling down as each driver crossed the finishing line.
BMW Team RMR driver Lucas Auer was on a quick lap as the Austrian missed the braking point, going straight into the gravel trap. Auer was able to keep the power going to find the exit route and return to the track under his own power.
Müller scored his first pole position of the year with a time of 1:57.822. Rast was on an overall best lap, but a bad third sector saw the reigning champion finishing second, 0.038 seconds behind the Swiss. Frijns was third, 0.358 seconds off the pace.
Rockenfeller was fourth, with Auer as the best classified driver for BMW in fifth, a second off the pace. Team RBM driver Philipp Eng, Sheldon van der Linde and Loïc Duval were sixth, seventh and eighth.
Team RMG’s Marco Wittmann could only manage ninth, despite improving his personal best on his last flying lap. WRT’s Ferdinand Habsburg completed the top ten, 1.491 seconds off the pace.
Pole man Müller said: “It’s difficult to put the perfect lap together as this track has very low grip in wet conditions. It’s very technical, we were at the right time in the right place, so it’s good to be on pole.”
The start of Race 1 is scheduled for 13:30 CEST.
