Leader Aitken piles on pressure with third pole of season at Sachsenring
Jack Aitken has hit top form, just in time for the business end of the title race. The Brit moved to the top of the DTM table after the Saturday race at the Sachsenring - and continued his charge in Sunday morning's qualifying. Aitken's lap time of 1:17.125 minutes was the fastest of the session and means he will now start from pole position for the third time this season. The Ferrari driver from the Emil Frey Racing team is thus well-placed to take victory in race twelve of the championship and extend his lead over the opposition.
"We made a few detailed adjustments after Saturday, and they paid dividends. It was also crucial that I did not have any traffic ahead of me on my flying lap, although the Sachsenring is quite a short and narrow track. The two pit stops mean you particularly need a good strategy in the race. I really want to win and am looking forward to the battle with the two Porsche behind me," said Aitken.
0.333 seconds slower than Aitken in second place was Manthey EMA driver Thomas Preining in a Porsche 911 GT3 R. His team-mate Ayhancan Güven, winner of Saturday's race, starts from third place on the grid. Jordan Pepper, who currently lies second in the table, guided his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 to fourth place. Morris Schuring was fifth in a Porsche 911 for the Manthey Junior Team.
Three of the top five in the Drivers' Championship - Aitken, Pepper and Preining - have put themselves in a good position going into the Sunday race. In contrast, Lucas Auer (third in the table) could do no better than 15th in qualifying.
Despite glorious sunshine, the temperature did not rise above 12 degrees Celsius during qualifying at the Sachsenring on Sunday morning. The drivers waited until the end of the 20-minute session before setting off on their fast laps. This tactic resulted in there being a lot of traffic on the 3.645-kilometre track during the decisive phase of qualifying.
With just three minutes remaining, Preining set his fastest time to move to the top of the timings sheet, while team-mate Güven slotted into second place behind him. Pepper put himself third with a time just 0.004 seconds slower than that of the Turkish driver. Then, with time running out, Aitken found a clear track ahead of him and posted the best time of the session. The top 15 drivers were separated by just 0.8 seconds.
Results are HERE
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