Timing was crucial, as only those drivers who went out on slicks immediately at the start of Q2 had any chance of securing pole position at the Lausitzring. You see, a few minutes later, rain began to fall, putting a stop to the hunt for best time.

The tactics employed by Audi Sport driver Frédéric Vervisch worked out perfectly. The Belgian from Team WRT posted a 1:52.351 at an early stage on a track that was still slightly damp. That would have been enough for second place on the grid, but then Vervisch did even better with a time of 1:50.903 minutes and secured his first Pirelli Pole Position Award by a margin of 1.276 seconds. He receives an exclusive espresso coffee machine from tyre partners Pirelli for his efforts.

"I'm very pleased," said Vervisch, who shares the Audi R8 LMS with 17-year-old Benjamin Goethe; The two of them are standing in for regular crew Rolf Ineichen and Mirko Bortolotti this weekend. "You could see from the radar that rain was on its way, but you didn't know exactly when. We didn't take any chances and went out straight away. Our decision paid off. Great strategy by the team! My pole position was quite unexpected to be honest, because I'm only accustomed to driving on the track in the wet. We could see that a dry line was developing from the ADAC Formula 4 race which had just finished. When posting hot laps subsequently, it was therefore vital to follow the line precisely and not stray into the wet."

Corvette driver Jeffrey Schmidt also managed to put in an early fast lap on slicks. He will start Sunday's race in second place along with partner Markus Pommer. Of the favourites to take the title, championship leaders Patric Niederhauser and Kelvin van der Linde in third secured the best position in the Rutronik Racing Audi followed by the two Porsche 911 GT3s from Precote Herberth Motorsport. Alfred Renauer and Sebastian Asch qualified fourth. Klaus Bachler and Robert Renauer are currently third in the standings and will start the race in fifth.

Qualifying was tougher for the other title contenders, as they set their lap times after the rain had set in. Currently fourth in the standings, Luca Stolz and Maro Engel (Toksport-WRTMercedes-AMG) were 18th on the timesheets while Christian Engelhart and Michael Ammermüller (SSR-Porsche), who are second overall had to settle for P25.