René Rast assured after taking the podium at Lausitzring that the Abt Sportsline team had turned his Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II ‘upside down’ to change a large number of parameters of its configuration. And it seems that this work has meant a before and after for the three-time DTM champion. In fact, Rast has scored the pole on Saturday at Imola after setting a time of 1:39.817, a record that has served to beat Nico Müller by 188 thousandths. Behind the two Audi drivers was Thomas Preining with the #24 Porsche.
Although the qualifying session began with a small run off the track by Ricardo Feller in the #7 Audi, it soon became clear that the GT3 of the Ingolstadt firm were going to take the lead. A faithful reflection of what was seen in the free ones, since René Rast reached the first turning point of the session with the best time. With a time of 1:40.221, the three-time DTM champion and the rest of the drivers in the contest returned to the pits with just over six minutes to go, preparing the last round of the session.
A final ‘rush’ in which Kelvin Van der Linde had an inopportune exit from the track that seemed to spoil his options. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the South African recovered from his mistake to ultimately slip into seventh place. By then, with the checkered flag already displayed, René Rast had secured pole after signing a time on his last lap of 1:39.817. More than enough record to lead the Audi double, as Nico Müller took second position after beating Thomas Preining.
The fourth final position was going to stop at the hands of Clemens Schmid with the best driver Lamborghinia role that usually corresponds to a Mirko Bortolotti who had to settle for sixth place. Ricardo Feller slipped between the two with the Audi #7, certifying that his mistake in the first minutes of the session had not affected him. A message similar to that sent by Kelvin Van der Linde with the aforementioned seventh place ahead of Marco Wittmann, the best BMW driver during qualifying.
Results classification 1 of the DTM 2022 in Imola
Photos: DTM