Jules Gounon snatches pole and sets new lap record at Nurburgring DTM qualifying
On a wintered Sunday morning at the Nurburgring, Winward‑Mercedes driver Jules Gounon secured the fastest lap of the DTM season, clocking 1:25.062 – a new Nurburgring record – and claimed pole position in damp, fog‑limited conditions.
Stand‑out performances and driver reflections
Gounon’s competitive edge came after a team‑diagnosed differential issue was resolved the day before; the engineer confirmed the fix the morning of qualifying, and the driver described the result as “fantastic” when it translated into a 0.113‑second lead over McLaren two‑time rookie Ben Dorr, who finished second. Dorr, who earned his first DTM pole the previous year, said he was pleased to start from the front end of the grid with the optimism that “this time it could work better.”
Third‑placed Matteo Cairoli, an American Ferrari‑backed prospect, added a point to his championship tally but expressed that “there was a little more that could have been extracted, especially in the final sector.” German‑owned Comtoyou Aston Martin’s Nicki Thiim, benefiting from a lighter car and increased boost pressure, rounded the front four with a 0.158‑second margin behind Gounon.
Mercedes‑AMG GT3 driver Maro Engel, strategically lighter for the day due to BoP rebalancing, appeared in fifth place – a 0.187‑second difference from pole – and felt the discipline’s weight changes mattered. BMW’s Marco Wittmann dropped to sixth, noting an inability to weave all sectors together due to a nervous car, while Lucas Auer of Landgraf‑Mercedes finished seventh, and Porsche’s Thomas Preining completed eighth in the field.
Balance‑of‑Performance tweaks reshuffle the field
Mercedes’ 40‑kilogram weight reduction, including a boost‑pressure tweak, let Gounon’s car “feel better” in the race, a sentiment shared by his teammate who cited the advantage. Thiim’s Aston Marin received a ten‑kilogram lighter package born from a BoP revision that also granted additional boost. Similar changes allowed Engel’s car to race ballast‑free, whereas BMW and Porsche vehicles’ BoP adjustments remained less pronounced, affecting their sector times.
Tyre strategy and field changes primed for tomorrow’s race
Christian Engelhart’s Grasser Lamborghini will not start the weekend after an unscheduled damage incident; the driver’s absence leaves the race grid at 20 cars. The recent tyre gamble takes centre stage, as those who finished Saturday’s session will carry the wear of their first race‑day tyres into Sunday, while drivers like Kelvin van der Linde (BMW), Tom Kalender (Mercedes), Marco Mapelli (Lamborghini) and Archie maini (Ford) carry almost untouched sets. A few others, such as Finn Wiebelhaus and Arjun Maini, finish with three refreshed sets due to their limited Saturday activity following a testing‑regulation penalty.
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