Norisring DTM: Christian Vietoris claims pole in tight session
Mercedes Team Mucke driver Christian Vietoris will start the first DTM race at the Norisring from pole position after setting the pace in qualifying
In a frantic and tightly contested 20-minute session, with two tenths separating the top eight drivers, Vietoris put in a lap of 48.144s around the half-way mark which proved to be unbeatable.
Audi Abt Sportsline driver Mattias Ekstrom will join Vietoris on the front row, ahead of fellow RS5 driver Jamie Green.
Practice two pacesetter Robert Wickens was fourth-fastest, ahead of the lead BMW of Bruno Spengler.
Edoardo Mortara, who was quickest in opening practice, will line up in sixth.
Former Formula 1 driver Paul di Resta and Lucas Auer, who set the early pace in qualifying, ended the session seventh and eighth for Mercedes.
Mike Rockenfeller and Nico Muller will complete the top 10 on the grid.
BMW struggled in comparison to rivals Mercedes and Audi at the German street track. Timo Glock, Augusto Farfus, Marco Wittmann and Maxime Martin were the marque's leading drivers in 11th to 14th.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Vietoris | Mucke | Mercedes | 48.144s | - |
| 2 | Mattias Ekstrom | Abt | Audi | 48.182s | 0.038s |
| 3 | Jamie Green | Rosberg | Audi | 48.194s | 0.050s |
| 4 | Robert Wickens | HWA | Mercedes | 48.250s | 0.106s |
| 5 | Bruno Spengler | MTEK | BMW | 48.257s | 0.113s |
| 6 | Edoardo Mortara | Abt | Audi | 48.305s | 0.161s |
| 7 | Paul Di Resta | HWA | Mercedes | 48.312s | 0.168s |
| 8 | Lucas Auer | Mucke | Mercedes | 48.342s | 0.198s |
| 9 | Mike Rockenfeller | Phoenix | Audi | 48.352s | 0.208s |
| 10 | Nico Muller | Abt | Audi | 48.357s | 0.213s |
| 11 | Timo Glock | RMG | BMW | 48.360s | 0.216s |
| 12 | Augusto Farfus | MTEK | BMW | 48.362s | 0.218s |
| 13 | Marco Wittmann | RMG | BMW | 48.376s | 0.232s |
| 14 | Maxime Martin | RBM | BMW | 48.389s | 0.245s |
| 15 | Adrien Tambay | Rosberg | Audi | 48.393s | 0.249s |
| 16 | Gary Paffett | ART | Mercedes | 48.430s | 0.286s |
| 17 | Maximilian Gotz | HWA | Mercedes | 48.445s | 0.301s |
| 18 | Miguel Molina | Abt | Audi | 48.464s | 0.320s |
| 19 | Timo Scheider | Phoenix | Audi | 48.491s | 0.347s |
| 20 | Tom Blomqvist | RBM | BMW | 48.500s | 0.356s |
| 21 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Schnitzer | BMW | 48.526s | 0.382s |
| 22 | Daniel Juncadella | HWA | Mercedes | 48.538s | 0.394s |
| 23 | Martin Tomczyk | Schnitzer | BMW | 48.544s | 0.400s |
| 24 | Esteban Ocon | ART | Mercedes | 48.574s | 0.430s |
Previous article
Audi driver Lucas di Grassi to race in Audi TT Cup at Norisring
Next article
Norisring DTM: Mortara avoids trouble to claim second win of 2016
Why Albon has his work cut out in the new-look DTM
The DTM moves into its bold new GT3 era with welcome support from Red Bull, which enters two AF Corse-run Ferraris. That includes one for ex-F1 driver Alex Albon, who’s determined to make a success of his GT switch - but he knows it won't be easy...
The slow-burner threatening to unseat Audi's DTM king
It's taken him a while to emerge as a consistent title challenger, but in the final year of DTM's Class One rule set, Nico Muller has smoothed the rough edges and has double champion stablemate Rene Rast working harder than ever to keep up in the title race
How a DTM failure became an unlikely Nurburgring conqueror
Opel's fortunes in the DTM had taken a turn for the worst by 2003 - hardly the pedigree that suggested it could take on the toughest 24-hour race of them all. But that's exactly what it did
The season that revitalised a sleeping giant
On the 20th anniversary of the resumption of hostilities in the DTM, Autosport revisits a classic season that brought a staple of German motorsport back to life with a bang and set in motion the careers of some notable names
Does 2000 hold the answers to DTM's current crisis?
It's 20 years since the DTM roared back into life at a packed Hockenheim with a back-to-basics approach as the antidote to its high-tech past. Now it's on its knees again, so is it time to recall the lessons learned in 2000?
The last-chance saloon of Germany's forgotten tin-top champions
The Opel Vectra GTS was the last in the line of the marque's DTM challengers, but failed to hit the lofty heights of its predecessors when financial constraints hit
Ranking the 10 best Audi DTM drivers
Audi last week announced it would be exiting the DTM at the end of 2020, bringing the curtain down on 20 years of continuous participation since the series' reboot in 2000. Autosport's expert panel ranks its 10 best drivers from the period
How the DTM landed itself in crisis
Audi's announcement that it will withdraw from the DTM was the latest bodyblow for a series that has lost three manufacturers in as many years. Some major soul-searching will now be required to assess how it can survive
