BMW driver Marco Wittmann remains on course for the DTM title.
While his main rival Mattias Ekström only ended up in 22nd place, the German secured his third pole position of the season. “For us, that was a very good qualifying. In the sessions before, we had a few problems, so I am all the more surprised by this result. It was great fun, because the car was perfect. Focussing entirely on this single lap in qualifying is one of my strengths,” Wittmann enthused.
The best-placed driver of an Audi RS 5 DTM, Edoardo Mortara will be starting from the front row of the grid alongside Wittmann. The Italian came 0.145 seconds short of the fastest time. “Second place on the grid feels like a victory. The past few weekends were really tough for me and now, being back among the front-runners again is nice. I know that our car is generally working very well in the race. That is making me confident for Sunday,” the 27-year-old explained. Next to Mortara, four other Audi drivers managed to make it into the final qualiying segment.
After numerous setbacks in the season so far, Daniel Juncadella secured himself a promising starting grid position. With his DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé, the Spaniard will be starting from seventh position into the Nürburgring race. The 23-year-old commented his best qualifying result of the season as follows: “I am happy that I am the best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver. It was very close again and I reckon that we have made another important step ahead. Unfortunately, I made a few small mistakes on the decisive laps.”
Mattias Ekström was dealt a major blow in the battle for the title. The Swede, Marco Wittmann’s fiercest rival as runner-up in the drivers’ standings, already was sidelined after the first qualifying heat. Ekström has to start only 22nd into the seventh round of the year. “There are no excuses for the weak performance. Today, our timing simply wasn’t the best. It would be nice if we could turn this around in the race, but that will not be easy,” the disappointed two times’ champion explained.
The seventh DTM round at Nürburgring covers 49 laps and will start on Sunday at 13.30hrs CET. ARD
