In what was clearly one of the closest qualifying sessions of the season, BMW Motorsport’s Timo Glock and Marco Wittmann, who took third and second place in last year’s race, are looking ahead to securing good points, with the former feeling confident of what might happen this afternoon.
“It is fantastic for us to start from the front row, as we did in Budapest,” said Glock, who explained that the track had less grip due to the sun disappearing in the evening when qualifying took place yesterday. “Only on my third lap did I clock my fastest time. It is a shame it was not quite enough for pole, but I am still very proud.”
The ex-F1 driver has been just one step away from pole position for the second time this year, having missed out to Wittmann at the Hungaroring, but is feeling confident with the other drivers from BMW that have made it into the top ten, despite the success ballast that some of the cars are carrying.
Wittmann, who could further extend his lead depending on what happens this afternoon, was surprised on the turnaround by taking third place yesterday, especially as free practice was a completely different story: “We were a bit surprised with how quick we were in qualifying, and that we were in contention for pole position. It did not look good at all in practice.“
However, the Team RMG driver, who leads Mattias Ekström by twenty points, seems to be favoring the consistency factor when it comes to the racing: “The priority for me is to score more valuable points and, if possible, finish on the podium.”
If a good clean start enables the pair to get past pole sitter Robert Wickens, strategy could also help to get these two back on the podium, but after lights out, could Glock push to take his second DTM career win, or will others have their say?
