Stolz Storms to Sachsenring Saturday Pole

Luca Stolz secured Haupt Racing Team’s first DTM pole of the season by leading qualifying for the Saturday race at the Sachsenring.

The German driver steered the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to a best lap of 1:17.633, outpacing the No. 24 KÜS Team Bernhard Porsche 911 GT3 R of Ayhancan Guven by 0.060 seconds.

It marked the second time this season a Mercedes captured the top spot in qualifying this season, following Maro Engel’s pole position for the Saturday race at Zandvoort in June.

Stolz also ended a pole drought for HRT that dated back to 2021, when Vincent Abril led the first qualifying session of DTM’s GT3 reboot at Monza.

Kelvin van der Linde took third aboard the No. 3 ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, although the South African is due to take a five-place grid penalty for receiving his third reprimand of the season last time out at the Lausitzring.

Thomas Preining in the No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche slotted into fourth place ahead of title rival Mirko Bortolotti.

Preining outpaced Bortolotti’s No. 92 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 by a mere 0.007 seconds, with the No. 69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 in the hands of Thierry Vermeulen sixth.

Ricardo Feller qualified seventh aboard the No. 7 ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, despite repeated late attempts to move further up the order in the closing stages.

He still outpaced the No. 94 Lamborghini of Franck Perera by 0.120 seconds, while the top ten was completed by Jack Aitken and Laurin Heinrich.

The first DTM race of the weekend kicks off at 1:30 p.m. CEST (7:30 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Qualifying 1