Audi Sport Team Rosberg’s René Rast secured pole for the Saturday DTM race at the Lausitzring, setting a time of 1 minute 35.241 seconds to lead a quartet of Audi’s at the top of the timesheets.
The 2017 series champion looked to be struggling in the first half of the session and was only eighth fasts until the final minute when he improved to take his sixth pole of 2019. Locking out the front row was Audi Sport Team Rosberg teammate Jamie Green, only 0.045 seconds slower.
As the light went green at the end of the pitlane the grid headed out, some drivers looking to find clean air, others looking to follow another for the benefit of a slipstream down the long straights of the 4.570km circuit.
Five minutes in and BMW Team RMR’s Philipp Eng set the first competitive time at 1 minute 35.760 seconds, before the top time was bettered three times prior to the midpoint of the session.
Green first lowered the bar by four hundredths of a second, BMW Team RMG’s Marco Wittmann then went faster than Green by a similar margin, before Audi Sport Team Phoenix’s Mike Rockenfeller took the top spot with a time of 1 minute 35.959 seconds.
Drivers returned to the track with around six minutes left to try and improve their grid position for race one, however in battling for clear space on track there would only be enough time for two laps.
As the session entered it’s final minute, a number of drivers looked to be improving their time, and most notably the championship contenders were going quicker.
Rast finally showed his true pace, setting the fastest time to claim pole as a number of other drivers improved.
Green will start alongside Rast after improving on his final run, setting a time of 1 minute 35.286 seconds to go within half a tenth of his teammate.
Rast’s championship rival Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline’s Nico Müller will start third after setting a time 0.197 seconds slower than pole.
The second row will be completed by the other Abt Sportsline driver Robin Frijns, who was another driver to improve in the final seconds, claiming fourth on the grid with a time of 1 minute 35.537 seconds.
Wittmann was the fastest of the BMW’s in fifth place, 0.340 seconds off pole as he looks to reduce the points deficit in the championship battle.
Rockenfeller, who was fastest for much of the session, was unable to improve and eventually dropped to fifth and some 0.354 seconds slower than Rast’s pole time.
Audi Sport Team WRT’s Pietro Fittipaldi will head the fourth row of the grid after setting a time of 1 minute 35.736 seconds, the final driver within half a second of pole.
Eng, who looked to be showing competitive one-lap pace early on in the session, will start this afternoon’s race from eighth after setting a time 0.519 seconds slower than Rast.
BMW Team RMR’s Timo Glock recovered from an early trip through the gravel at T10 to set the ninth fastest time, 0.685 seconds off pole, and will be joined on the fifth row of the grid by BMW Team RBM’s Joel Eriksson who was the final driver in the 35s with a lap time of 1 minute 35.970 seconds.
Jake Dennis was the fastest of the R-Motorsport-run Aston Martins in 13th place, setting a time of 1 minute 36.134 seconds which was 0.893 seconds slower than Rast’s pole time.
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:35.241 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:35.286 | 0.045 |
| 3 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:35.438 | 0.197 |
| 4 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:35.537 | 0.296 |
| 5 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:35.581 | 0.340 |
| 6 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:35.595 | 0.354 |
| 7 | 21 | Pietro FITTIPALDI |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:35.736 | 0.495 |
| 8 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:35.760 | 0.519 |
| 9 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:35.926 | 0.685 |
| 10 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:35.970 | 0.729 |
| 11 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:36.001 | 0.760 |
| 12 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 5 | 1:36.052 | 0.811 |
| 13 | 76 | Jake DENNIS | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 8 | 1:36.134 | 0.893 |
| 14 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:36.198 | 0.957 |
| 15 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 9 | 1:36.524 | 1.283 |
| 16 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | Disallowed | N/A |
| 17 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 9 | Disallowed | N/A |
| 18 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 4 | Disallowed | N/A |