Audi Abt Sportsline driver Robin Frijns claims his fifth pole of the season. The Dutchman is two tenths faster than Ferdinand Habsburg in second, who scored his best-ever qualifying result.
Ahead of the qualifying session, the stewards handed out penalties to two drivers. A five-place grid drop for both WRT’s Harrison Newey and Team Rosberg’s Jamie Green. During yesterday’s race, each of them racked up three warnings – the maximum amount.
In the first half of qualifying, Habsburg showed promising pace. When drivers returned to the pits after their first runs, the Austrian was fifth. Frijns had already claimed provisional pole with a 1:19.507 ahead of Nico Mueller and Rast. Marco Wittmann was sitting fourth.
With seven minutes left on the clock, track action resumed. Initially, Rene Rast rose to the top with a time of 1:19.452 in the final two minutes of the session. However, he was quickly beaten by Habsburg and Mueller. Though, it would be Frijns who set a mega lap to take his fifth pole position of the year. With his time of 1:19.117, the Dutchman was exactly two tenths clear of Habsburg in second. ‘The momentum is on my side now’, Frijns commented. ‘I was really happy with my lap, I knew it was good whilst I was at it.’
Mueller had to settle for third on the grid, adding another point to his championship lead. Reigning champion and yesterday’s polesitter Rast finished fourth, 0.335 seconds behind Frijns. BMW Team RMG’s Wittmann is the best-placed BMW today in fifth, with a gap of nearly four-tenths to Frijns. Assen race two winner Sheldon van der Linde will start this afternoon’s race from sixth. It was an impressive result today for ART’s Robert Kubica too. The rookie qualified seventh today, his best result so far.
Completing the top ten are BMW’s Timo Glock and Lucas Auer and Audi’s Green. Because of the five-place grid drop, Green drops back to 15th. This promotes Philipp Eng to tenth place on the grid. The sixth row on the grid is shared between the two Team Phoenix drivers – Mike Rockenfeller and Loic Duval.
The second race of the weekend is set to start at 13.30 local time (12.30 UK time).
