Misano DTM: Rast leads Audi 1-2-3-4 in first qualifying

Rene Rast took pole position for the DTM's opening race at Misano, leading an Audi lockout of the top four grid slots.

Rast set his best effort of a 1m25.294s on the first run during a frenzy of improvements but then opted to remain in the garage and not take part in the second runs.

High tyre wear in the hot conditions at Misano informed that decision, as Hankook expects a one-stop race and all DTM drivers are allocated seven sets of slicks for the weekend.

DTM rookie Jonathan Aberdein put in his and WRT's best qualifying performance of 2019 by placing his customer Audi on the front row of the grid in second, 0.068s behind Rast.

Loic Duval and Robin Frijns then ensured Audi locked out the top four positions by taking third and fourth on the grid respectively.

Sheldon van der Linde, who took his first pole position in the DTM at Zolder last time out, was the highest-placed BMW in fifth. Bruno Spengler took sixth ahead of championship leader and BMW stablemate Philipp Eng.

Nico Muller, Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Glock were eighth, ninth and 10th and ensured no drivers inside the top 10 improved on their placings after the first runs.

Pietro Fittipaldi, who is filling in for the unwell Jamie Green, was 11th-fastest, while Jake Dennis was the quickest driver from the R-Motorsport Aston Martin programme in 13th.

Dani Juncadella had expressed fears on Friday that Ducati MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso could "worry" his Aston Martin team, but he qualified in front of the Audi driver in 14th.

Dovizioso still beat two of the Astons in 15th, and was 1.7s off the pace in the second WRT Audi.

Two-time DTM champion Marco Wittmann will start last in 18th after failing to set a lap during qualifying due to engine trouble.

Qualifying results:

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	33	René Rast	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.294
2	27	Jonathan Aberdein	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.362	0.068
3	28	Loic Duval	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.543	0.249
4	4	Robin Frijns	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.680	0.386
5	31	Sheldon Van Der Linde	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'25.840	0.546
6	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'25.900	0.606
7	25	Philipp Eng	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'25.943	0.649
8	51	Nico Müller	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.978	0.684
9	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'26.032	0.738
10	16	Timo Glock	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'26.153	0.859
11	21	Pietro Fittipaldi	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'26.583	1.289
12	47	Joel Eriksson	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'26.832	1.538
13	76	Jake Dennis	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'26.841	1.547
14	23	Daniel Juncadella	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'26.887	1.593
15	34	Andrea Dovizioso	Audi RS5 DTM	1'27.037	1.743
16	62	Ferdinand Habsburg	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'27.191	1.897
17	3	Paul di Resta	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'27.772	2.478
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