Assen DTM: Rast takes Race 2 pole, disaster for Wittmann

Rast trailed Audi stablemate Robin Frijns after the first qualifying runs, helped by the German getting blocked twice by the BMWs of Sheldon Van Der Linde and Saturday race winner Marco Wittmann.

Both drivers remain under investigation for blocking, with Wittmann enduring a disastrous qualifying session less than 24 hours after victory. 

Wittmann was unable to produce a flying lap after reporting a loss of power before blocking Rast and a rapid repair job by his RMG BMW crew meant he was able to rejoin the session in the final minute, but he could not cross the line to begin a timed lap before the session ended.

Rast was also given a further boost in his run to pole when the second runs began, as Frijns came to a stop in the pitlane and was unable to head back out. 

That meant Rast's 1m24.849s lap was good enough for pole by just 0.132s after WRT Audi driver Jonathan Aberdein surprised by placing his RS5 DTM on the front row of the grid. 

Aberdein's run shuffled Audi's Mike Rockenfeller, Nico Muller and Frijns down to third, fourth and fifth respectively. 

Van der Linde was the best-placed BMW in sixth ahead of Loic Duval, the Audi driver having held third after the first qualifying runs. 

Philipp Eng was second best of the BMW contingent in eighth ahead of stablemate Timo Glock and WRT Audi's Pietro Fittipaldi. 

Top Aston Martin driver Daniel Juncadella placed 14th ahead of R-Motorsport teammates Paul di Resta, Ferdinand Habsburg and Jake Dennis, with Wittmann lining up last in 18th.

Session results:

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	33	René Rast	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'24.849
2	27	Jonathan Aberdein	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'24.981	0.132
3	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.017	0.168
4	51	Nico Müller	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.018	0.169
5	4	Robin Frijns	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.102	0.253
6	31	Sheldon Van Der Linde	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'25.147	0.298
7	28	Loic Duval	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.388	0.539
8	25	Philipp Eng	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'25.410	0.561
9	16	Timo Glock	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'25.468	0.619
10	21	Pietro Fittipaldi	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.485	0.636
11	47	Joel Eriksson	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'25.517	0.668
12	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'25.750	0.901
13	53	Jamie Green	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1'25.854	1.005
14	23	Daniel Juncadella	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'26.087	1.238
15	3	Paul di Resta	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'26.370	1.521
16	62	Ferdinand Habsburg	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'26.566	1.717
17	76	Jake Dennis	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1'27.379	2.530
18	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1'55.532	30.683
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