Moscow DTM: Wittmann takes pole after Martin crashes
DTM title contender Marco Wittmann struck back after a disastrous Saturday showing to claim pole position for the Sunday race at Moscow Raceway.
Wittmann, who gave up the points lead after finishing 19th in the rain in Race 1, led home a BMW 1-2-3, as teammate and erstwhile session leader Maxime Martin crashed out.
The benchmark of the weekend so far, set by Wittmann in Saturday morning practice, fell instantly in qualifying, as Martin logged a 1m29,397s with his first effort.
That lap was soon surpassed by points leader Robert Wickens, only for Martin to respond with a 1m29.160s, 0.02s clear of the Canadian.
Shortly after the halfway point, Martin lowered the benchmark to 1m29.027s and then crashed out at Turn 7, losing control of his BMW over a small incline heading into the corner.
The Belgian made contact with the tyre barrier at a reasonably high speed and the session ended up red-flagged for around 10 minutes, as Martin climbed out of the car and it was cleared away.
Martin's time remained good enough for provisional pole until Wittmann recorded a 1m28.776s with two minutes to go.
Tom Blomqvist then moved up to second, a tenth off the pace, but Martin would get to keep third place.
Wickens, who won Saturday's race, was the lead Mercedes in fourth, with Bruno Spengler in fifth and Dani Juncadella recording his best qualifying result of the season with sixth.
BMW duo Augusto Farfus and Timo Glock will occupy row four in seventh and eighth, while Mercedes drivers Maximilian Gotz and Lucas Auer completed the top 10.
It was a terrible session for Audi, the manufacturer's best grid position coming courtesy of Nico Muller in P13.
The Ingolstadt marque's two main championship contenders - Edoardo Mortara and Jamie Green - were P18 and P20.
UPDATE: Third-place finisher Martin was excluded from qualifying for infringing parc ferme rules and will thus start at the back - with championship leader Wickens promoted to P3.
Qualifying results
Pos. | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 | Marco Wittmann | BMW M4 DTM | 1'28.776 | |
2 | 31 | Tom Blomqvist | BMW M4 DTM | 1'28.878 | 0.102 |
3 | 6 | Robert Wickens | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'29.180 | 0.404 |
4 | 7 | Bruno Spengler | BMW M4 DTM | 1'29.371 | 0.595 |
5 | 12 | Daniel Juncadella | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'29.397 | 0.621 |
6 | 18 | Augusto Farfus | BMW M4 DTM | 1'29.411 | 0.635 |
7 | 16 | Timo Glock | BMW M4 DTM | 1'29.522 | 0.746 |
8 | 84 | Maximilian Götz | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'29.604 | 0.828 |
9 | 22 | Lucas Auer | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'29.650 | 0.874 |
10 | 13 | Antonio Felix da Costa | BMW M4 DTM | 1'29.759 | 0.983 |
11 | 3 | Paul di Resta | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'29.760 | 0.984 |
12 | 51 | Nico Müller | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'29.768 | 0.992 |
13 | 88 | Felix Rosenqvist | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'29.811 | 1.035 |
14 | 5 | Mattias Ekström | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'29.812 | 1.036 |
15 | 17 | Miguel Molina | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'29.815 | 1.039 |
16 | 8 | Christian Vietoris | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'29.935 | 1.159 |
17 | 48 | Edoardo Mortara | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'29.987 | 1.211 |
18 | 27 | Adrien Tambay | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'30.057 | 1.281 |
19 | 53 | Jamie Green | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'30.081 | 1.305 |
20 | 99 | Mike Rockenfeller | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'30.114 | 1.338 |
21 | 2 | Gary Paffett | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1'30.122 | 1.346 |
22 | 100 | Martin Tomczyk | BMW M4 DTM | 1'30.158 | 1.382 |
23 | 10 | Timo Scheider | Audi RS5 DTM | 1'30.424 | 1.648 |
EX | 36 | Maxime Martin | BMW M4 DTM | 1'29.027 | 0.251 |
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