Arjun Maini made DTM history at the Lausitzring by taking the Ford Mustang GT3’s first pole position in the championship. The HRT Ford Racing driver topped Qualifying 2 with a final-lap 1:19.750, beating Matteo Cairoli by 0.128 seconds to secure pole for Sunday’s Race 2.

Matteo Cairoli briefly sat at the top of the timing screens in the closing stages of the session, but Maini improved on his final lap to move ahead by 0.128 seconds. The Emil Frey Racing driver will start from second position in the #14 Ferrari 296 GT3.

Yesterday’s pole sitter Nicki Thiim qualified third for Comtoyou Racing in the #7 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, 0.157 seconds behind Maini. Finn Wiebelhaus continued a strong weekend for HRT Ford Racing by securing fourth place in the #64 Ford Mustang GT3.

Luca Engstler qualified fifth in the #130 ABT Sportsline Lamborghini Temerario GT3, while Thomas Preining took sixth in the #91 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R. Maro Engel followed in seventh for Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol in the #80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, ahead of Marco Wittmann in eighth for #11 Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.

Mirko Bortolotti secured ninth position for #63 TGI Team by GRT, with Ricardo Feller completing the top ten for Manthey.

The field remained extremely close throughout the session, with only 0.495 seconds separating Maini in first from Tom Kalender in 17th position.

The second race of the weekend is scheduled to begin at 13:30 CEST.

DTM LAUSITZRING | ENTRY LIST| QUALIFYING 1 | RACE 1 | QUALIFYING 2