Norisring DTM: Robert Wickens beats Paul di Resta to pole
Robert Wickens will start the Norisring DTM race from pole position for the second year running, after putting in a stunning set of laps on the streets of Nuremberg
With Mercedes living up to its practice hype and getting five cars into the top eight, pole position became a straight fight between Wickens and his HWA team-mate Paul di Resta in Q3.
Both drivers were almost immediately into the 47s bracket, which hadn't been done up until that point, with di Resta sitting on top with a few minutes left.
But a late string of fast laps made the difference for Wickens, the Canadian first leap-frogging di Resta, and then lowering his own best time to a 47.883s to ensure pole position.
"I was expecting it to be better here [for Mercedes], but I didn't know it would be this good," said Wickens.
Jamie Green was third and the best-placed Audi on the grid. The Briton almost didn't make it out of Q2, his very last lap earning him a spot in the top eight.
However, once he was in the final segment of qualifying Green was able to shine, becoming the only driver other than Wickens and di Resta to break into the 47s bracket.
The Mercedes trio of Pascal Wehrlein, Gary Paffett and Christian Vietoris finished fourth, fifth and sixth, while Mattias Ekstrom was seventh.
Points leader Marco Wittmann finished eighth, having been the only BMW driver to make it through Q2.
For the first time this season, there was a mixed bag of makes at the other end of the grid rather than a group of Mercedes.
Of those eliminated from Q1, there was one Mercedes (Vitaly Petrov), two Audis (Edoardo Mortara and Timo Scheider), and two BMWs (Martin Tomczyk and Antonio Felix da Costa).
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Robert Wickens HWA Mercedes 47.883s 2. Paul di Resta HWA Mercedes 47.976s +0.093s 3. Jamie Green Rosberg Audi 47.995s +0.112s 4. Pascal Wehrlein HWA Mercedes 48.008s +0.125s 5. Gary Paffett HWA Mercedes 48.033s +0.150s 6. Christian Vietoris HWA Mercedes 48.033s +0.150s 7. Mattias Ekstrom Abt Audi 48.079s +0.196s 8. Marco Wittmann RMG BMW 48.210s +0.327s 9. Adrien Tambay Abt Audi 48.223s Q2 10. Nico Muller Rosberg Audi 48.235s Q2 11. Maxime Martin RMG BMW 48.267s Q2 12. Mike Rockenfeller Phoenix Audi 48.292s Q2 13. Timo Glock MTEK BMW 48.316s Q2 14. Joey Hand RBM BMW 48.320s Q2 15. Augusto Farfus RBM BMW 48.329s Q2 16. Bruno Spengler Schnitzer BMW 48.329s Q2 17. Daniel Juncadella Mucke Mercedes 48.375s Q2 18. Miguel Molina Abt Audi 48.434s Q2 19. Martin Tomczyk Schnitzer BMW 48.417s Q1 20. Edoardo Mortara Abt Audi 48.439s Q1 21. Timo Scheider Phoenix Audi 48.480s Q1 22. Antonio Felix da Costa MTEK BMW 48.488s Q1 23. Vitaly Petrov Mucke Mercedes 48.544s Q1
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