Moscow DTM: Blomqvist scores last-gasp pole

Blomqvist has endured a nightmare campaign in the DTM so far this season, as he sits 15th in the standings and is yet to finish higher than sixth – but Moscow marks already his second pole of 2017, as he'd also topped qualifying at the Norisring.

Mercedes duo Robert Wickens and Gary Paffett set the initial pace in the Sunday session in Moscow, but it was an Audi 1-2-3 at halfway point.

Championship leader Rene Rast had set a 1m27.153s lap, 0.002s quicker than the effort that took him to pole position on Saturday – but he was then demoted to second by Mattias Ekstrom, the Swede posting the first sub-1m27s lap of the weekend.

However, unlike on Saturday, laptime improvements were significant in the second half of the session, with Mercedes driver Paul di Resta briefly going first before being pipped by Rast.

Spengler then looked set for provisional pole as he produced a 1m26.579s effort seconds before the chequered flag, with Ekstrom coming up just 0.003s short.

But as the flag waved, Blomqvist – who had been sitting 12th at halfway point – went top with a 1m26.518s.

Ekstrom and Rast will thus make up an all-Audi second row behind Blomqvist and Spengler, with di Resta the lead Mercedes in fifth place.

Timo Glock was sixth, leading fellow BMW drivers Marco Wittmann and Maxime Martin.

Loic Duval placed ninth for Audi, with Gary Paffett joining di Resta as the only other Mercedes representative in the top 10.

Jamie Green, who had topped Sunday morning's FP3, was third after the opening runs, but could only finish 11th, despite producing a session-best final sector.

He is also to take a five-place grid penalty in the race, having incurred a third warning of the season for crossing the pit exit line in FP3.

Qualifying 2 results

Cla	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	Tom Blomqvist	BMW M4 DTM	1'26.518
2	Bruno Spengler	BMW M4 DTM	1'26.579	0.061
3	Mattias Ekström	Audi RS5 DTM	1'26.582	0.064
4	René Rast	Audi RS5 DTM	1'26.735	0.217
5	Paul di Resta	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	1'26.887	0.369
6	Timo Glock	BMW M4 DTM	1'26.902	0.384
7	Marco Wittmann	BMW M4 DTM	1'26.910	0.392
8	Maxime Martin	BMW M4 DTM	1'26.937	0.419
9	Loic Duval	Audi RS5 DTM	1'26.946	0.428
10	Gary Paffett	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	1'27.113	0.595
11	Jamie Green	Audi RS5 DTM	1'27.168	0.650
12	Robert Wickens	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	1'27.230	0.712
13	Augusto Farfus	BMW M4 DTM	1'27.230	0.712
14	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	1'27.230	0.712
15	Nico Müller	Audi RS5 DTM	1'27.258	0.740
16	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi RS5 DTM	1'27.303	0.785
17	Edoardo Mortara	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	1'27.332	0.814
18	Maro Engel	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	1'27.477	0.959