• First pole position of a year-old car
  • Six Audi A4 DTM cars in top ten at Zandvoort
  • Disappointing qualifying for the title candidates
DTM 2009
Oliver Jarvis

Audi driver Oliver Jarvis wrote a chapter in DTM history at Zandvoort: Jarvis who at age 25 is the youngest Audi “factory” driver is the first racer in the “new” DTM to clinch the pole position with a year-old car. With Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Prémat on grid positions four and six, two other year-old Audi cars will start to the race from the top three rows (Sunday, from 1:45 pm live on “Das Erste”).

In the crucial final qualifying segment Oliver Jarvis outperformed his rivals by more than half a second on the demanding circuit along the Dutch North Sea coast – at the wheel of the Audi A4 DTM in which Martin Tomczyk started last year. “Audi Sport Team Phoenix did a fantastic job,” enthused the Briton after taking his first pole position in the DTM. “We knew that we’re fast and that we’re able to do it. It’s wonderful that everything fit together so perfectly. If I manage a good start on top of this, I’ll have a real chance of winning.”

Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich shared the joy of Ernst Moser’s team and their youngest protégé about the sixth consecutive pole position Audi has achieved in the DTM: “I’m incredibly proud of Oliver (Jarvis), who yet again demonstrated the potential he’s got. He dominated today’s qualifying. As far as our championship candidates are concerned, we’ll sit together and develop a sound strategy to get them on the podium tomorrow. That’s definitely our goal.”

With Mattias Ekström, Tom Kristensen and Timo Scheider on positions nine, ten and eleven, the three Audi drivers with the top point scores in the overall standings surprisingly failed to advance as early as in the second qualifying section (Q2) in changing weather conditions with drizzling rain setting in repeatedly. Martin Tomczyk was the only driver of a current Audi A4 DTM car to move up into the top eight.

A total of six Audi A4 DTM cars will start from the top ten grid positions on Sunday. Markus Winkelhock will go into the race from position twelve, Katherine Legge from 14th place.

Tomas Kostka and Christian Bakkerud managed a remarkable performance: The two drivers of the private Kolles teams in their two-year-old Audi A4 DTM cars outran Mercedes drivers Mathias Lauda and Ralf Schumacher.

On Sunday, Audi will have the chance to achieve its 50th exploit in a DTM race. In each of the past two years, the brand with the four rings clinched 1-2-3-4 wins at Zandvoort. That Oliver Jarvis sits on pole at Zandvoort is almost perfect timing: On his Audi A4 DTM he is promoting the “Audi Cup” staged at Munich’s Allianz Arena on July 29/30.