DTM Imola: Rookie Feller snares maiden pole in Abt Audi

Despite a Balance of Performance tweak handed down prior to qualifying, which left the Audi R8 LMS Evo II GT3 25kg heavier than it had been in Saturday's race, DTM rookie Feller surged to the top in the latter stages of the session after electing to stay in the pits early on.

Prior to the final runs, Lucas Auer (Winward Racing Mercedes) headed Feller's team-mate Kelvin van der Linde on a 1m40.185s, with both opting to set their times in the middle of the 20-minute session with a clear track.

However, the pair had returned to the pits as qualifying concluded and were unable to defend their positions as others improved.

Fraga was the first to make a notable step as he split Auer and van der Linde, before Feller pipped Auer by 0.039s.

Lamborghini also had an extra 25kg in weight added prior to qualifying, but Grasser Racing's Clemens Schmid nevertheless took his turn at the head of the field with a 1m40.066s, with race one winner Rene Rast (Abt Audi) slotting into second at this stage.

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But reigning ADAC GT Masters champion Feller quickly responded and posted the first sub-1m40s lap with a 1m39.814s effort to surge back to the top spot.

His effort, which would stand to the end of the session, was 0.003s quicker than Rast's pole lap with 25kg less weight on Saturday.

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Two-time DTM champion Marco Wittmann (Walkenhorst BMW) briefly moved into second position, but was shuffled back to third by a resurgent Fraga, who retired from race one due to power steering woes aboard a new chassis built up after his Lausitzring qualifying fire.

Felipe Fraga, AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo

Photo by: DTM

With his Mercedes 20kg lighter than in qualifying for Saturday's race, Gruppe M driver Maro Engel was another late improver in fourth, as Schmid's Lamborghini made it five different manufacturers in the top five positions.

Nick Cassidy in the second Red Bull Ferrari was just 0.253s down on Feller's pole lap in sixth spot, with Luca Stolz (HRT Mercedes) seventh ahead of Rast, whose car will be 50kg heavier for race two courtesy of an additional 25kg in success ballast.

Auer tumbled back to ninth ahead of Schmid's team-mate Mirko Bortolotti, with championship leader Sheldon van der Linde set to start 11th in the leading Schubert Motorsport BMW.

DTM Imola Qualifying results:

Cla	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	Ricardo Feller	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	1'39.814
2	Felipe Fraga	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	1'39.966	0.152
3	Marco Wittmann	BMW M4 GT3	1'40.026	0.212
4	Maro Engel	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'40.059	0.245
5	Clemens Schmid	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo	1'40.066	0.252
6	Nick Cassidy	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	1'40.067	0.253
7	Luca Stolz	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'40.121	0.307
8	René Rast	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	1'40.136	0.322
9	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'40.185	0.371
10	Mirko Bortolotti	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo	1'40.214	0.400
11	Sheldon Van Der Linde	BMW M4 GT3	1'40.267	0.453
12	Philipp Eng	BMW M4 GT3	1'40.319	0.505
13	Nico Müller	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	1'40.330	0.516
14	Kelvin van der Linde	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	1'40.341	0.527
15	Mikael Grenier	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'40.385	0.571
16	Dennis Olsen	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1'40.464	0.650
17	Thomas Preining	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1'40.485	0.671
18	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'40.490	0.676
19	Laurens Vanthoor	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1'40.520	0.706
20	Timo Glock	BMW M4 GT3	1'40.645	0.831
21	Arjun Maini	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'40.686	0.872
22	Dev Gore	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	1'40.811	0.997
23	Marius Zug	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	1'40.833	1.019
24	David Schumacher	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'40.927	1.113
25	Esteban Muth	BMW M4 GT3	1'41.055	1.241
26	Rolf Ineichen	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo	1'41.182	1.368
27	Maximilian Buhk	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1'41.186	1.372
28	Alessio Deledda	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo	1'42.064	2.250
View full results