Liam Lawson in the #30 Red Bull AF Corse Ferrari GT3 strengthened his grip on the DTM championship title by taking pole position for this afternoon’s final race of the season at the Norisring. Kelvin van der Linde will join him on the front row in the Team Abt Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3 aiming to steal the championship back from the Kiwi.

DTM NORISRING: QUALIFYING 1 REPORT | RACE 1 REPORT | QUALIFYING 2 REPORT | RACE 2 REPORT

the track was as cold as might be expected for a mid October morning so it took a few laps for the drivers to get sufficient heat into their tyres. Following his debut podium yesterday, Arjun Maini set the early pace in qualifying putting in a succession of quick laps to secure pole position in the first part of the session. At the midpoint Lucas De Grassi knocked him off the top whilst championship challenger, Götz was third.

Playing it cool Liam Lawson was taking his time and at the halfway point was down in P14 whilst Van der Linde, having held pole for a few minutes early on was down in ninth place. Lawson was saving his best for the second half where along with team mate Nick Cassidy they dominated the top two spots. It was almost at the end when Van der Linde managed to separate the two with a lap 0.041 seconds behind Lawson.

Kelvin van der Linde on his way to second place in the final DTM qualifying session of 2021.

On the final lap Van der Linde was flying and Lawson had to react. Pushing hard to keep his top spot, Lawson kissed the wall on the exit of Dutzendteich Kehre thus ending his lap. Seconds later Van der Linde did exactly the same so the positions at the top of the table were maintained with Nick Cassidy holding third place and Lucas Auer and Philip Ellis in 4th and 5th respectively.

Nick Cassidy in the Alpha Tauri Ferrari 488 GT3 in qualifying.

The third championship challenger, Max Götz finished well down the field in P8 but having come from far back yesterday to lead the race after turn one means he could still be in with a chance.

Having gained 3 points for pole position, Lawson goes into the final race on 227 points, 19 ahead of Van der Linde who in turn is 3 points ahead of Götz. 

 
 

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