Ferrari on fire – front row lock-out at the Norisring

Thierry Vermeulen waited calmly until the last minute, before striking with ruthless efficiency: the Ferrari driver from Emil Frey Racing set the fastest time of 48.666 seconds in Sunday morning’s second qualifying session at the Norisring. The Dutchman will now start from the front of the grid for the second time in his DTM career.

“This is my first pole position of the current season. I had one final attempt shortly before the end of qualifying – you obviously feel some pressure in that situation. The temperatures are a little lower than on Saturday, which suits our car, and the brakes in particular. I am looking forward to the race,” said Vermeulen. The 22-year-old set his fastest time in Group A, who were second onto the track for their race against the clock.

Before Vermeulen’s effort, Nicolas Baert had initially set the best time in Group B. However, the Belgium from Comtoyou Racing was subsequently disqualified, as his Aston Martin Vantage GT3 did not comply with the technical regulations. That made Vermeulen’s team-mate Jack Aitken the fastest in that group, and he now starts the race from second place. Behind him on the second row are Arjun Maini from HRT Ford Performance in a Ford Mustang GT3, and Ben Green in another Ferrari 296 GT3 in fourth place. Maro Engel from Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing completes the top five, as he did on Saturday.

Group B had opened the 20-minute qualifying at the street circuit in Nuremberg at 09:15 on Sunday. Group A started five minutes later, and Maini was on course for pole position with the fastest time of 48.737 seconds until Vermeulen posted the best time of the day in the dying seconds.

Qualifying at the Norisring took place in two groups (A and B), to allow for the size of the field. As the fastest driver overall in qualifying, Vermeulen will start from pole position on Sunday, alongside Aitken, who was first in the other group. Maini follows in third place as the second-fastest in the pole-sitter's group, before switching back to the other group and Green in fourth place on the grid. With the exception of the pole-sitter, the grid positions are not determined by the times set, but by the positions at the end of each qualifying session.

Results are HERE