Audi wins qualifying duel 6-4
- Audi A4 DTM is starting into its last race from P1
- Miguel Molina clinches his second pole position at Hockenheim
- Fifth consecutive best time in qualifying for Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
6-4 for Audi – after winning the drivers title with Martin Tomczyk the brand with the four rings has decided the DTM qualifying duel in its favor as well. The Spaniard Miguel Molina gave Audi the fifth consecutive pole position in the finale at the Hockenheimring (Sunday starting at 1:45 p.m. – local time – on “Das Erste”). This means that all the best times posted in qualifying during the second half of the season went to Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline that can still secure first place in the team standings on Sunday as well.
“Simply fantastic,” cheered Miguel Molina after clinching his second pole position in the DTM. “You can’t wish for anything better than starting into the last race of the season from pole. I want to thank my team and my engineer Markus (Michelberger), for giving me a perfect car.”
By setting the best time in the third qualifying segment (Q3) the 22-year-old Spaniard had qualified for the shoot-out session for the pole position and, on the crucial lap, was again running in front. Despite a small mistake in turn two he took more than two tenths of a second away from Mercedes driver Jamie Green. After Oschersleben, he has grabbed the top spot on the grid for the second time in his still young DTM career.
Overall, Audi showed an impressive qualifying performance at the season’s finale: Three Audi A4 DTM cars will be starting from the two front rows on Sunday, and seven from the top ten.
Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) will tackle his first race as DTM Champion from position three. At his side on the second row will be Zandvoort winner Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline).
Timo Scheider in fifth place barely missed the top four, his team-mate Oliver Jarvis will start from position eight. The runner-up at Valencia, Filipe Albuquerque, was merely lacking three thousandths of a second to make it into Q3. The Portuguese from Audi Sport Team Rosberg is starting into the race from position nine on the grid. Next to him will be the dominant driver of the second half of the season – Mattias Ekström – who did not find an optimum set-up for qualifying at Hockenheim.
Edoardo Mortara, whose title “Rookie of the year” is not in jeopardy at the finale, after slipping at the end of Q3, had to settle for eleventh place. Rahel Frey was only 160 thousandths slower than her far more experienced rival Susie Wolff, and will be starting from grid position 18.
“Due to the extremely low temperatures this was certainly a somewhat unusual DTM qualifying session,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “But our teams and drivers made the best out of the situation. It’s also great to see such a large number of fans in the paddock today. They can look forward to a tremendous season finale tomorrow.”
The spectators at Hockenheim will also get a foretaste of 2012: Before the race starts and after the finish the new DTM coupes from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz will be doing show laps around the Grand Prix circuit. At the wheel of the Audi A5 DTM will be Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen.