ZANDVOORT, The Netherlands — A dominant performance by René Rast (Bregenz) in the early second qualifying session at Circuit Zandvoort.
The BMW works driver was the fastest driver on the dune circuit on Friday afternoon with a time of 1:32.750 minutes, a lead of almost three-tenths of a second.
This marks Rast’s 26th pole position in Sunday’s race – a new DTM record.
“We were already very competitive in practice, and then everything came together perfectly in qualifying. Pole position confirms our good start to the season. The new Evo package makes the car even more drivable and also makes setup adjustments easier for us. It wasn’t until the team came up to me, cheering, that I learned I had set a new DTM pole record,” said the pole leader happily.
Following Rast were last year’s winners from Zandvoort, Jack Aitken (GB) and Marco Wittmann (Fürth). The Briton finished second in his Ferrari 296 GT3, 0.275 seconds behind, and explained: “I’m extremely happy with my fast lap and second place on the grid. The two BMWs are very fast on the straights, so we’ll have to think of a good strategy for the race.”
Wittmann will start his 200th DTM race on Sunday in third place in the second BMW fielded by Schubert Motorsport. Frenchman Jules Gounon secured fourth place as the best Mercedes-AMG driver. Thomas Preining (A) drove his Porsche 911 GT3 R to fifth place.
Championship leader Lucas Auer (A) finished eleventh in the Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Shortly before the start of qualifying, it began to drizzle. However, the drivers took to the 4.259-kilometer track with Pirelli slicks. This was the right decision, as the expected rain stayed away, and the DTM drivers contested the race in drying conditions.
As is so often the case, the battle for pole position was decided in the final minutes: Wittmann initially set the fastest time, but shortly afterwards, Aitken countered and took the lead. Rast posted his top lap shortly afterward, securing the record pole position.
