Sport Norisring DTM: Lawson beats van der Linde to Saturday pole

The result means AF Corse driver Lawson will head to Saturday’s opening race with a 15-point advantage over the Abt Sportsline Audi of van der Linde, albeit with 18kg of ballast on his Ferrari.

© Alexander Trienitz Liam Lawson, AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo

The laptimes tumbled rapidly around the short 2.6km circuit in Nuremberg as the session progressed, helped by drivers being able to complete multiple flying laps on a single set of tyres.

Van der Linde was the first driver to break the 50s barrier in qualifying with a time of 49.647s, before improving further to a 49.255s, setting the fastest lap of the weekend in the process.

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But the South African’s position at the top of the timesheets proved to be short-lived as Lawson began setting a series of quick times, moving the goalposts with a 48.966s flyer.

The next driver to go on top was GetSpeed Mercedes’ Arjun Maini, edging out Lawson by just 0.021s to claim provisional pole after the first runs.

When the drivers returned on track in the final five minutes of the session, Lawson wasted little time to snatch the top spot back from Maini, setting a time of 48.903s on his first flying lap.

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The Kiwi then moved himself out of reach of his opponents with a 48.766s, before finding yet more time on his final flyer to seal his third pole position.

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© Group C the title in view? Kelvin van der Linde gets tips from Rene Rast Kelvin van der Linde is besides Liam Lawson the biggest favorite on the DTM title win 2021. Before the final on the Norisring in Nuremberg, the duo separates 14 points in the driver's riding. In a similar situation, the threefold DTM champion Rene Rast was already a valuable tips for his protégé from South Africa. "I talked to him" gives van der Linde. "It's no secret that we talk a lot together.

Lawson’s title rival van der Linde did improve to second with a last-gasp effort of his own, but ended a sizeable 0.184s adrift of the Red Bull junior’s best time of 48.720s.

Winward driver Lucas Auer led a train of Mercedes cars in third, a further 0.027s adrift of a front-row start, as Maini finished fourth after failing to improve his previous benchmark in his final run.HRT’s Maximilian Gotz, who is still in contention for the title, was classified fifth with a time of 48.960s, beating fellow Mercedes runners Philip Ellis (Winward) and Daniel Juncadella (GruppeM).

Contesting his first DTM race of the season as a replacement for Alex Albon, Super Formula and SUPER GT champion Nick Cassidy posted a time of 49.038s to qualify an impressive eighth in the AF Corse Ferrari.

The top 10 was rounded out by Nico Muller in the Team Rosberg Audi and T3 Motorsport Lamborghini driver Esteban Muth.

Red Bull Ferrari boss labels Norisring DTM finale a "disgrace"

Red Bull AF Corse's team boss labelled Sunday's final DTM race a "disgrace", as team orders and an opening lap collision played a key role in deciding the 2021 title.First, van der Linde attempted to pass him for the lead by cutting the Turn 2 hairpin at the start, bending the steering arm of his Ferrari and leaving him without a chance to fight back into points.

Two-time DTM champion Marco Wittmann’s woes continued as he qualified on the last row of the grid in 19th, beating only the second Team Rosberg Audi of Dev Gore.