Dramatic Saturday qualifying at the Sachsenring: with 2:40 minutes remaining, Mercedes-AMG title contender Lucas Auer spun off the track at Turn 8 and hit the tyre barrier hard with the left front. Fortunately, Auer was able to get out uninjured, but qualifying had to be stopped.
At that point, apart from Landgraf Mercedes driver Tom Kalender and Seyffarth Audi guest starter Simon Connor Primm, nobody had set a fast lap. Race control then set the remaining time in qualifying at three minutes, which after the restart made for a hectic final phase in which, surprisingly, Schubert title contender Marco Wittmann took a BMW pole ahead of the new DTM leader Thomas Preining.
But how did Auer experience the crash? “I turned in and then heard a strange noise – and then I went off,” he describes the accident in the fast right-hander to ran.de. There had been no warning – and the car had “actually felt really good” before that, he says.
Mercedes-AMG finds cause of Auer accident
The TV pictures show that the right-rear tyre came loose in the gravel trap seconds before the impact. According to Mercedes-AMG, that was due to the wheel hub breaking on Auer’s car.
Auer’s best lap time was deleted because he caused a red flag – which means he has to start from the very back. At Landgraf, every effort is now being made so that the Mercedes-AMG GT3 can be repaired in time for Saturday’s race. As the pit lane closes as early as 12:50, Auer, who is 25 points behind in the overall standings with four races remaining, will presumably start from the pits.
Wittmann completely surprised by pole position
Schubert BMW driver Wittmann surprisingly secured pole position with a 1:17.627 ahead of Manthey Porsche favourite Preining, who was 0.126 seconds short. The Austrian takes over the DTM lead thanks to the two points for second place – one point ahead of Winward Mercedes driver Maro Engel.
“It’s a surprise for us,” Wittmann tells ran.de. Because the Sachsenring, where BMW has not yet taken a podium finish in the DTM, was “never a good hunting ground. We were rather worried about coming here.”
The pole came as such a surprise to Wittmann that he asked his race engineer on the radio “whether he was taking the piss out of me”. Perhaps the chaos with the red flag had also “played into his hands a little”, the two-time champion speculates.
Preining hopes for little excitement after crashes last year
In the overall standings, Wittmann has now overtaken Auer and is fourth, 23 points behind. In the race, however, he has 20 kilograms of success ballast on board from his Nürburgring victory. “That means: somehow try to survive,” he says.
Preining, too, who confirmed his strong form from the test and free practice with second place, was highly satisfied. “Of course I would have liked to be right at the front, but I can’t complain – front row is great,” the Manthey Porsche driver tells ran.de.
“At the Sachsenring the races are always exciting, even though it’s hard to overtake. So of course I’m hoping that we can stay in the podium positions and that it won’t be too exciting an afternoon.” The 2023 DTM champion knows what he is talking about after the two consequential collisions last year.
Engel rues second lap after grid penalty
Third was Engel’s Winward Mercedes team-mate Jules Gounon (+0.289). The second Schubert BMW driver, Kelvin van der Linde (+0.389), finished fourth. Engel (+0.569) followed in fifth, but as the driver deemed responsible for the AMG collision with Auer at the Nurburgring he will be moved back three grid places and must start from eighth (Starting grid).
“The lap was good so far,” the 41-year-old tells ran.de, satisfied with his performance. “A bit of a shame that we couldn’t tack on a second lap. The cars in front of me all slowed quite a lot on the out-lap, and that cost us a second lap in the end. Otherwise there might have been a bit more in it.” But the car feels “good”, which gives hope for the race.
Another setback for Nicki Thiim
Emil Frey Ferrari driver Matteo Cairoli (+0.579) therefore moves up to fifth, and as sixth in the overall standings, 34 points behind, he can also still calculate realistic title chances. Auer’s team-mate Kalender (+0.705) is sixth.
Qualifying did not go to plan for Aston Martin title contender Nicki Thiim, who sits third in the championship. The Dane was 10th, 0.909 seconds off. Guest starter Primm reached 17th in the Seyffarth Audi, 1.423 seconds down.
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