Two Audi A4 DTM cars on the front row
For the first time ever in the DTM, two Audi A4 cars will be starting from the front row of the grid. In the super pole qualifying session at the MOTOPARK Oschersleben, Martin Tomczyk clinched pole, 76 thousandths of a second ahead of team-mate Tom Kristensen. Leader of the standings Mattias Ekström will be starting the race from the fourth row. After the Swede in his Audi A4 DTM had clocked 1m 20.471s in qualifying, and thus the fastest time ever to be achieved by a DTM car at the MOTOPARK, he twice hit dirt on the track in his super pole lap. With merely 0.252 seconds behind, Ekström clinched seventh place. Christian Abt missed the single car qualifying of the top ten by as little as 82 thousandths of a second. Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela will be starting from positions 13 and 15. The race at MOTOPARK Oschersleben will start at 2 p.m. (local time) on Sunday.
Quotes after qualifying
Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #6)
1st place “Super Pole“, 1m 20.752s
“Once again, I managed to drive my fastest lap of the whole weekend in the super pole session, despite the fact that I lost some time in the final sector, which is actually my favourite one. I’m highly satisfied, my Audi A4 was running perfectly here right from the beginning. I think that, by achieving this result, I’ve made up for my mistake at the Nürburgring. Two Audis at the very front, and Mattias in seventh place – I’m sure we can expect a thrilling race tomorrow.“
Tom Kristensen (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #12)
2nd place “Super Pole“, 1m 20.828s
“It’s great to be starting from the front row. Well done to Martin. My lap wasn’t completely perfect, though. In the final sector, I hit the kerbs too hard, which made the car jump. Still, my thanks to the boys in the team. They did a super job, and have continuously improved the car for each race. The fact that, starting this time, I’ll be seeing nothing but the light means that we’re making progress. The race will be very tough, physically. Outside temperatures are above 30 degrees, and inside the cockpit it feels even twice as hot. My aim is to clinch a podium position, and I’m hoping that Eki will be on the podium as well.“
Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #5)
7th place “Super Pole“, 1m 21.004s
“Unfortunately, this wasn’t a good super pole lap for me. Right in the first corner, I hit gravel, which cost me a lot of time. In the second sector, as well, I hit dirt on the track. Except for this, the lap was nice and ‘clean’, but these two small mistakes were enough to throw me back to seventh place on the grid. This isn’t a dream result, but things could have been worse.“
Christian Abt (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #11)
11th place, 1m 21.294s
“During my second outing, I noticed that my second lap was very good. Prior to the last two corners, I was clearly quicker than the fastest time I’d clocked so far. I thought this would be enough for the top ten, but obviously I was thinking a bit too much: in the last corner I was too slow and then lost two, three tenths more. That’s a pity.“
Emanuele Pirro (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #44)
13th place, 1m 21.370s
“We’re getting closer and closer to the top ten. Still, we just barely missed the super pole for the second time in a row. We’re definitely making progress, though. But now, where I can see the light at the end of tunnel, I’m eager to move up further. Yet for some reason, we’re still lacking a bit of speed. We need to keep putting some hard work into this.“
Frank Biela (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #45)
15th place, 1m 21.587s
“It looks like I’ve been locked into 15th place here for some reason. With the last set of tyres I was doing a very good lap. Unfortunately, another car in front of me flew off the track in the final corner. The turn was full of dirt, and this meant my good time was gone. That was really too bad, because the car was going quite well. Another step towards the front of the field would have been nice, but just wasn’t meant to be.“
Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “Congratulations to the whole squad: this was a gigantic exploit for us. Of course I would have preferred to see Mattias with us up front. This is a situation we haven’t had yet this year, and we must give some thought to how we’ll handle this. But I’m sure we’ll think of something.“
Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest): “This result isn’t at all what we would’ve liked to see. We’ve been stuck to these places for the whole weekend. We’d been hoping to make it into the top ten, because we were lacking merely a few hundredths of a second. Perhaps, we’ll be able to score some points even from these positions.“
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “Two Audi A4 cars on the front row – we’re very proud of that. It’s a pity that Mattias made two small mistakes in his super pole lap, otherwise he’d be on the front row as well. Nevertheless, I’m certain that we have a very good starting base for tomorrow’s race. Our cars have a very good setup, I’m confident.“