Lausitzring DTM: Frijns edges Muller for Race 1 pole
Robin Frijns claimed pole position for the first of the two DTM races at Lausitzring, beating Audi stablemate Nico Muller in qualifying.
Muller, who won both Spa races after being awarded victory in Race 2 following Rene Rast's penalty, led the way after the first runs with a best time of 1m15.592s.
This was comfortably the quickest time of the weekend so far, four tenths up on the lap he set to top second practice on Friday.
However, the Abt Audi driver was unable to improve on his second run, allowing his teammate Frijns to beat him to pole position with a time of 1m15.486s.
With that lap, Frijns secured his second pole position in three qualifying sessions and maintained his unbeaten front row record in 2020.
Loic Duval finished two tenths off the pace to make it a 1-2-3 on the grid for Audi, with Sheldon van der Linde finishing just 0.003s adrift in the best of the BMWs.
Timo Glock and two-time champion Marco Wittmann qualified fifth and sixth, further showing BMW’s improved pace after an Audi washout at Spa.
Fresh off his impressive Formula E run with Audi in Berlin, Rast could only manage the seventh-fastest time in qualifying, 0.353s down on his last year’s title rival Muller.
Completing the top 10 were the Audis of Jamie Green and Mike Rockenfeller and the BMW of Jonathan Aberdein.
Aberdein’s BMW stablemates Philipp Eng and Lucas Auer endured a disappointing qualifying to finish 11th and 14th respectively, sandwiching WRT Audi drivers Ferdinand Habsburg and Fabio Scherer.
Formula 1 convert Robert Kubica finished 1.364s off the pace in 16th in a customer BMW operated by ART.
Lausitzring DTM: First qualifying results:
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 |  Robin Frijns | Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'15.486 | |
| 2 | 51 |  Nico Müller | Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'15.592 | 0.106 |
| 3 | 28 |  Loic Duval | Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'15.682 | 0.196 |
| 4 | 31 |  Sheldon Van Der Linde | BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'15.685 | 0.199 |
| 5 | 16 |  Timo Glock | BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'15.826 | 0.340 |
| 6 | 11 | Marco Wittmann | BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'15.835 | 0.349 |
| 7 | 33 | René Rast | Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'15.839 | 0.353 |
| 8 | 53 |  Jamie Green | Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'15.943 | 0.457 |
| 9 | 99 | Mike Rockenfeller | Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'15.985 | 0.499 |
| 10 | 27 | Jonathan Aberdein | BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'16.063 | 0.577 |
| 11 | 25 |  Philipp Eng | BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'16.078 | 0.592 |
| 12 | 62 | Ferdinand Habsburg | Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'16.099 | 0.613 |
| 13 | 13 | Fabio Scherer | Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'16.142 | 0.656 |
| 14 | 22 | Lucas Auer | BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'16.443 | 0.957 |
| 15 | 10 | Harrison Newey | Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'16.458 | 0.972 |
| 16 | 8 |  Robert Kubica | BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'16.850 | 1.364 |
| View full results | |||||
Previous article
Rast stripped of Spa DTM win for illegal push-to-pass use
Next article
Lausitzring DTM: Muller wins as BMW scores first podium
About this article
| Series | DTM |
| Event | Lausitzring |
| Drivers | Robin Frijns |
| Author | Rachit Thukral |
WRT Team Audi Sport – 2020 DTM Season Review
DTM 2020: Audi bids farewell
DTM: Hockenheim - Race 2 Highlights
DTM 2020: Race 1 highlights – Hockenheim
DTM: Hockenheim - Race 1 Highlights
The slow-burner threatening to unseat Audi's DTM king
It's taken him a while to emerge as a consistent title challenger, but in the final year of DTM's Class One ruleset, Nico Muller has smoothed the rough edges and has double champion stablemate Rene Rast working harder than ever to keep up in the title race.
Does 2000 hold the answers to the DTM's current crisis?
It's 20 years since the DTM roared back into life at a packed Hockenheim with a back-to-basics approach as the antidote to its high-tech past. Now it's on its knees again, so is it time to recall the lessons learned in 2000?
Ranking the 10 best Audi DTM drivers
Audi last week announced it would be exiting the DTM at the end of 2020, bringing the curtain down on 20 years of continuous participation since the series' reboot in 2000.
Why the DTM must reinvent itself after Audi exit
Audi's announcement that it will withdraw from the DTM at the end of 2020 was the latest blow for a series that has lost three manufacturers in as many years. Some major soul-searching will now be required to assess how it can survive.
Why cynic Berger changed his mind over green tech in racing
DTM boss Gerhard Berger was a detractor of Formula E and held a reluctance for his series to embrace greener engine technologies. However, this cynic's tune has had to change to ensure DTM's existence as the motorsport world moves forward
What the fallout from Aston's engine split means for 2020
Aston Martin's DTM arrival, via the R-Motorsport outfit, was heralded as a salvation of sorts for the series. After plenty of bumps in the road in 2019, the team finds itself in a similar position to the one it was in 12 months ago. Can it get its act together?
How the DTM and Super GT can build on their experiment
The Class One 'Dream Race' staged by the DTM and SUPER GT proved a hit - from a competitive and collaborative standpoint. The next step will be for both parties to ensure a successful trial ends up being more than just that.
Robot pitcrews and hydrogen – is DTM's concept plausible?
DTM organiser ITR has mooted a radical plan for a "truly new and inspiring" future motorsport series. How realistic are its suggestions of automated pitstops and 1000bhp hydrogen-fuelled touring cars?
