Wittmann Triumphs with Final 2018 DTM Pole Amidst Hockenheim Drama: Rast and Paffett in Title Showdown

Wittmann clinches the last DTM pole of 2018

Marco Wittmann, who has won the DTM championship twice, will begin the season's final race from the pole position after outpacing title challenger Rene Rast during the qualifying session at the Hockenheimring.

The BMW driver had a tough Saturday at Hockenheim, as a crash during the third practice session prevented him from participating in qualifying, and he ultimately finished 16th in the first race.

Double DTM titleholder Marco Wittmann has secured the pole position for the concluding race of the 2018 season, outpacing championship hopeful Rene Rast during the qualifiers at Hockenheimring.

The BMW driver had a tough Saturday at Hockenheim, starting with a crash in FP3 that prevented him from taking part in qualifying, and ending with a 16th place finish in the first race.

Wittmann made a victorious comeback by propelling his BMW M4 to the leading position on the timesheets, surpassing Audi's Rast in the concluding 20-minute showdown of the year.

In an effort to advance in the championship battle, Rast took the lead after the initial runs. Although the Audi driver marginally bettered his first attempt with a lap time of 1 minute 32.737 seconds, Wittmann surpassed this by clocking a 1 minute 32.683 second lap in the closing minute.

Importantly, Rast succeeded in qualifying ahead of championship front-runner Gary Paffett, securing an additional point against his title competitor as the Mercedes driver finished qualifying in third place.

In contrast to Rast and Paffett, another contender for the title, Paul di Resta, did not manage to secure a spot in the top ten during qualifying. As a result, he will begin the second race from the eleventh position. Despite this, Di Resta remains in second place in the drivers' championship, with only 14 points separating the top three competitors.

Beginning in third position, Paffett only has to follow Rast closely to secure his second championship title in the series, 13 years after winning his first.

Gary Paffett lines up on the second row alongside BMW driver Bruno Spengler, with Augusto Farfus securing fifth place just ahead of Edoardo Mortara, who starts in sixth.

Joel Eriksson and Philipp Eng form an entirely BMW fourth row, securing seventh and eighth positions. Meanwhile, Nico Muller and Timo Glock round out the top ten, taking ninth and tenth spots on the grid.

Explore Further

Recent Updates

News Highlights

Site Map

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

Reproducing the text, photographs, or illustrations in whole or in part is strictly prohibited in any manner.