Jules Gounon produced a late-session masterclass to secure pole position for Sunday’s second DTM race at the Nürburgring, setting a new qualifying record in the process.
The Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER driver left it until the closing stages of the 20-minute session before delivering a 1:25.062 lap, edging Ben Dörr’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo by just 0.113 seconds.
The result marks Gounon’s second DTM pole and comes as a major turnaround after a frustrating Saturday. Gounon’s Mercedes-AMG had suffered with a differential issue during the opening race, prompting his crew to investigate and resolve the problem overnight.
“After Saturday’s race I was really frustrated, but my mechanics and engineer found a small issue with the differential and fixed it,” said Gounon. “After that the car felt unbelievably good. I even said over the radio that if this wasn’t good enough to be at the front, I didn’t understand motorsport anymore.
“This pole is a huge relief.”
Gounon also collected three championship points for taking the Pirelli Pole Position Award.
Dörr secured an impressive second place for Dörr Motorsport, continuing the McLaren’s strong pace after narrowly missing the podium in Saturday’s opening race.
Matteo Cairoli, winner of Saturday’s race with Emil Frey Racing, will start Sunday’s contest from third in his Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. Nicki Thiim put the Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin fourth, while championship leader Maro Engel completed the top five for Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol.
The session remained closely fought throughout, with Thiim initially setting the pace before Gounon moved to the top of the timing screens with just 30 seconds remaining. Dörr and Cairoli then jumped ahead of Thiim to complete the front two rows.
The competitiveness of the field was again highlighted by the final margins, with just 0.822 seconds separating Gounon at the front from the driver at the back of the 20-minute session.
With Gounon starting from pole and Cairoli looking to convert his Saturday victory into another strong result, Sunday’s second Nürburgring race promises another closely contested battle at the front of the DTM field.
