Assen DTM: Mercedes' Auer scores first pole since 2018

Improvements were slow to come during the 20-minute session, with none of the drivers able to break the 1m33s barrier in their first runs.

Esteban Muth was the first driver to set a competitive time in the T3 Motorsport Lamborghini, completing a lap in1m32.976s before Red Bull protege Lawson went even quicker in the AF Corse Ferrari to claim provisional pole position.

With just over two minutes left in the session, Abt Sportsline’s Sophia Floersch beached her Audi in the gravel, bringing out a red flag.

When the session resumed after a 10-minute delay, all cars rushed back on track, with erstwhile championship leader Kelvin van der Linde one of the first drivers in the queue.

The South African had gambled on a single run in qualifying, which appeared to backfire when teammate Floersch ran wide off the track just when he was on his first flying lap.

But despite his tyres having gone past their peak performance, the 25-year-old was able to post a time of 1m32.547s to provisionally book a spot on the front row, just 0.046s down on title rival.

Ultimately, neither driver could hold on to the front row after Auer secured his first pole in the DTM since 2018 with a last-gasp effort of 1m32.414s, and Saturday winner Wittmann moved up to second with a time of 1m32.487s.

Lawson eventually ended up third in the final order, while van der Linde qualified fifth after being pipped by Alex Albon in the other AF Corse entry right at the end of the session.

After securing a podium in his maiden guest appearance on Saturday, factory Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti impressed again as he qualified sixth in the lead T3 Motorsport entry, beating a suite of Mercedes cars led by Maximilian Gotz (HRT), Arjun Maini (GetSpeed), Daniel Juncadella (GruppeM) and Vincent Abril (HRT).

Ex-Formula 1 driver Christian Klien was less than half a second off the pace in his final appearance for the JP Motorsport McLaren team, but that put him down in 13th in what was an ultra-competitive qualifying session.

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'32.414
2	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW M6 GT3	1'32.487	0.073
3	30	Liam Lawson	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	1'32.501	0.087
4	23	Alex Albon	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	1'32.536	0.122
5	3	Kelvin van der Linde	Audi R8 LMS Evo	1'32.547	0.133
6	63	Mirko Bortolotti	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo	1'32.575	0.161
7	4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'32.621	0.207
8	36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'32.634	0.220
9	8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'32.660	0.246
10	5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'32.798	0.384
11	57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'32.806	0.392
12	18	Maximilian Buhk	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'32.821	0.407
13	15	Christian Klien	McLaren 720S GT3	1'32.886	0.472
14	31	Sheldon Van Der Linde	BMW M6 GT3	1'32.896	0.482
15	10	Esteban Muth	BMW M6 GT3	1'32.976	0.562
16	51	Nico Müller	Audi R8 LMS Evo	1'33.212	0.798
17	16	Timo Glock	BMW M6 GT3	1'33.480	1.066
18	9	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi R8 LMS Evo	1'33.499	1.085
19	12	Dev Gore	Audi R8 LMS Evo	1'33.638	1.224
20	26	Esmee Hawkey	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo	1'33.893	1.479
21	99	Sophia Flörsch	Audi R8 LMS Evo	1'35.218	2.804
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