(Motorsport-Total.com) – What a qualifying session on Sunday at the DTM at the Nürburgring: And Maro Engel secures the first pole position of the year for Mercedes-AMG with a best time of 1:33.750 (here are the results). Initially, it seemed that fog would delay the start, but then it kicked off on time – however, the track did not dry out as expected.
© Alexander Trienitz
Maro Engel once again proved to be a specialist under difficult conditions
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This made it unclear whether slicks or rain tires were the right choice. Engel, who is currently third in the overall standings, opted for rain tires and was just 0.007 seconds faster than Abt-Audi driver Ricardo Feller, who also mounted rain tires. Third was Schubert-BMW pilot Marco Wittmann, who was 0.160 seconds behind, but was on slicks!
“It feels good to be back on pole, we had to wait relatively long as a team and a brand, so it’s great that it worked out today,” Engel said to ran.de. Was the rain tire the right choice? “If Marco was that close, then it was probably a tight decision. One more lap and it probably wouldn’t have been enough,” said the Winward pilot, who hopes for a dry race, regarding the difficult gamble.
Feller and Wittmann successful with contrasting approaches
Abt-Audi driver Feller, who made a strong comeback after a disappointing Saturday, made it clear that it was “crucial” for him to switch back from slicks to rain tires. “I really thought about it while driving, but then chose the more or less safe option. It paid off.” In the race, the Swiss aims for a podium finish after his teammate’s victory the day before.
But how did Wittmann end up switching from rain tires to slicks – and nearly grabbing the pole with the contrasting strategy? “We were on rain tires, some cars were on slicks from the start, and it was unclear which tire was better,” Wittmann describes the difficult gamble to ran.de. “We switched to slicks.”
That wasn’t always an advantage. “There were places where it was really wet, where you had to use the slicks, then there were places that were dry, where the rain tires were at a disadvantage,” described the Fürth native the conditions.
Bortolotti decides against rain tire instruction
In fourth place is HRT driver Luca Stolz, the next Mercedes-AMG, followed by SSR-Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti in fifth, who is second in the overall standings. The Italian, living in Vienna, was surprised by the timely start of qualifying, after it initially seemed there would be a delay due to thick fog.
“We received a message that qualifying would be postponed, so I chilled in the hospitality,” he said to ran.de. “Then suddenly at 9:10 AM, the message comes: qualifying starts at 9:20 AM!”
Bortolotti received an instruction over the radio just before the end to switch to rain tires because the slicks were barely getting up to temperature, but he chose otherwise. “I felt it was better to stay on slicks because the track was dry, and the tire was getting better, so it was important to stay out there.”
Is he satisfied with fifth place? “I would have liked to be further up, but I think in such a qualifying session where anything can happen, this is good.” His Grasser teammate Franck Perera finished in sixth place but was dropped five spots on the grid for blocking Dörr-McLaren driver Clemens Schmid, who is celebrating his 34th birthday today. This left him in eleventh.
Kelvin van der Linde: “Should have listened to Feller”
DTM leader and Saturday’s winner Kelvin van der Linde starts in seventh position, which puts him in a promising position after he went off the track with slicks. He believes it was a wrong decision not to switch to rain tires in the end.
“Ricardo came in,” he describes the gamble to ran.de. “I said on the radio that he was making a huge mistake, but I should have listened to him.” The best Porsche driver is Thomas Preining in eighth, while Schubert-BMW pilot Rene Rast, who is fourth in the championship, finished in twelfth place.
The race will start as usual at 1:30 PM (all info regarding schedule, stream, etc.) – and it could turn into a weather gamble just like qualifying, if the weather report is to be believed.