Hockenheim DTM: MIke Rockenfeller takes race two pole for Audi
Mike Rockenfeller pipped Audi team-mate Miguel Molina to take pole position for the second race of Hockenheim's DTM season opener, in a frenetic, drying qualifying session
Rain returned to the region overnight, and the morning's 15-minute warm-up was run in the wet.
Drivers started qualifying on wet tyres 90 minutes later, however the improving conditions meant they began switching to slicks within six minutes.
What followed was countless changes at the top of the order between 10 different drivers as times fell by 10 seconds, eventually getting within 1.5s of Jamie Green's lap to claim pole on Saturday in the dry.
Paul di Resta was making the biggest inroads and with three minutes remaining he led the field into the 1m35s bracket. However, such was the rate of improvement, he ended the session 12th.
Rockenfeller started the final minute on top, but was displaced by Mattias Ekstrom, who improved again after the chequered flag.
Behind him on the track, though, Rockenfeller recorded a 1m34.516s to secure pole while Miguel Molina went within 0.030s of his time moments later, demoting Ekstrom to third in an all-Audi top three.
Molina will start fifth due to earning a three-place grid penalty for a Saturday clash with Antonio Felix da Costa.
Reigning champion Macro Wittmann was fourth, ahead of Edoardo Mortara, Martin Tomczyk and da Costa.
While Gary Paffett - his C-Coupe rebuilt after being collected by Tomczyk on Saturday afternoon - was the best of the Mercedes drivers in eighth, track position and traffic at the death appeared more of a factor than pace for the brand's drivers.
Saturday winner Green will start the one-hour race from 19th on the grid in his Audi.
UPDATE: Paffett and Adrien Tambay - who qualified 11th - will start from the rear of the grid.
They were excluded from the session for not having the rear wing spacer that blocks DRS during qualifying installed.
RACE TWO QUALIFYING:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike Rockenfeller | Phoenix | Audi | 1m34.516s | - |
2 | Miguel Molina | Abt | Audi | 1m34.546s | 0.030s |
3 | Mattias Ekstrom | Abt | Audi | 1m34.721s | 0.205s |
4 | Marco Wittmann | RMG | BMW | 1m34.968s | 0.452s |
5 | Edoardo Mortara | Abt | Audi | 1m35.089s | 0.573s |
6 | Martin Tomczyk | Schnitzer | BMW | 1m35.112s | 0.596s |
7 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Schnitzer | BMW | 1m35.113s | 0.597s |
8 | Maxime Martin | RMG | BMW | 1m35.304s | 0.788s |
9 | Robert Wickens | HWA | Mercedes | 1m35.361s | 0.845s |
10 | Paul Di Resta | HWA | Mercedes | 1m35.397s | 0.881s |
11 | Augusto Farfus | RBM | BMW | 1m35.446s | 0.930s |
12 | Timo Scheider | Phoenix | Audi | 1m35.485s | 0.969s |
13 | Bruno Spengler | MTEK | BMW | 1m35.514s | 0.998s |
14 | Nico Muller | Rosberg | Audi | 1m35.537s | 1.021s |
15 | Timo Glock | MTEK | BMW | 1m35.577s | 1.061s |
16 | Pascal Wehrlein | HWA | Mercedes | 1m35.579s | 1.063s |
17 | Jamie Green | Rosberg | Audi | 1m35.817s | 1.301s |
18 | Lucas Auer | ART | Mercedes | 1m36.017s | 1.501s |
19 | Tom Blomqvist | RBM | BMW | 1m36.101s | 1.585s |
20 | Maximilian Gotz | Mucke | Mercedes | 1m36.528s | 2.012s |
21 | Christian Vietoris | HWA | Mercedes | 1m36.988s | 2.472s |
22 | Daniel Juncadella | Mucke | Mercedes | 1m39.171s | 4.655s |
- | Gary Paffett | ART | Mercedes | 1m35.270s | 0.754s |
- | Adrien Tambay | Abt | Audi | 1m35.373s | 0.857s |
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