Written by Brianna Gunawan

Jack Aitken takes second pole of the 2025 DTM season ahead of Thierry Vermeulen

Jack Aitken claimed his second pole position of the 2025 DTM season in Qualifying 1 at the Nürburgring. Driving the #14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, Aitken posted a 1m25.550s lap, edging team-mate Thierry Vermeulen in the #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 by just 0.046s.

Another Italian marque joined the front three, with Luca Engstler placing the #19 TGI by GRT Grasser Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 in third. Ben Green impressed in the #10 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, securing fourth place ahead of championship leader Lucas Auer in the #22 Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, who will need to fight hard in the race to defend his points lead.

Aitken was quick to praise his team’s effort after qualifying. “It’s a great result for the team. We’ve locked out the front row and Ben’s up there again as well, which is nice to see. They just built a really awesome car,” said the British-Korean driver. Reflecting on recent preparations, he added: “We tested here a couple of weeks ago and everything worked really nicely. It felt smooth, and the track was really quick today. I’m over the moon now and I hope we can have as good a result in the race.”

Update: Ben Dörr will not start Saturday’s race from his original qualifying position of seventh. The #25 Dörr Motorsport driver received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Tom Kalender (#84 Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) during Qualifying 1, dropping him to tenth on the starting grid.

Qualifying 1 – Top 10

  1. Jack Aitken (#14 Emil Frey Racing – Ferrari 296 GT3) – 1m25.155sec
  2. Thierry Vermeulen (#69 Emil Frey Racing – Ferrari 296 GT3) – +0.046s
  3. Luca Engstler (#19 TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT – Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2) – +0.057s
  4. Ben Green (#10 Emil Frey Racing – Ferrari 296 GT3) – +0.116s
  5. Lucas Auer (#22 Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf – Mercedes-AMG GT3) – +0.121s
  6. Jules Gounon (#48 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER – Mercedes-AMG GT3) – +0.140s
  7. Ben Dörr (#25 Dörr Motorsport – McLaren 720S GT3 Evo) – +0.195s*
  8. Maro Engel (#24 Mercedes-AMG Team Winward – Mercedes-AMG GT3) – +0.254s
  9. Jordan Pepper (#63 TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT – Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2) – +0.409s
  10. Thomas Preining (#91 Manthey EMA – Porsche 911 GT3 R) – +0.415s

* Three-place grid penalty

Full results

DTM NÜRBURGRING | LATEST | DTM EXPLAINER | ENTRY LIST | PREVIEW | UP CLOSE WITH 2026 PORSCHE | PRACTICE REPORT | QUALIFYING 1 REPORT | RACE 1 REPORT | RACE 1 DATA ANALYSIS | QUALIFYING 2 REPORT | RACE 2 REPORT | RACE 2 DATA ANALYSIS