Five Audi cars on top eight grid positions
- Thrilling DTM qualifying at the Lausitzring
- Mattias Ekström and Martin Tomczyk on row two
- Strong DTM comeback by Tom Kristensen
Two Audi drivers, Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) and Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Phoenix), are starting from the second row to the DTM race at the Lausitzring (live broadcast on “Das Erste” on Sunday starting at 1:45 p.m., local time). In total, five Audi A4 DTM cars made it into the top eight.
On the race track in East Germany that has been traditionally difficult for Audi the brand with the four rings fought a captivating battle with the competition from Mercedes-Benz for the pole position in which the pendulum swung in the direction of Mercedes-Benz only at the very last moment.
After the quickest vehicles were within just a few thousandths of a second in the first three qualifying sections Mattias Ekström and Martin Tomczyk in the crucial last segment (Q4) lost almost half a second to the quickest in qualifying, Bruno Spengler. “On the new tires we were running really well,” commented Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “On the used tires we found ourselves struggling a bit more in Q4 – we’ve got to work on that. But even though we always aim for pole and the front row we’re in a pretty good position for the race with five cars on the top eight grid positions.”
After having experienced two qualifying events that went less than perfectly for him Mattias Ekström was back again at Lausitz and, like last year, put his Audi A4 DTM on position three of the grid. “I’m particularly happy for my guys,” said the Swede, “because they’ve had two difficult weekends in the DTM lately.”
The two-time DTM champion missed the front row by just 67 thousandths of a second. The runner-up in the standings, Martin Tomczyk, in fourth place was only 31 thousandths slower and will start from row two as well.
By taking grid position six, Oliver Jarvis confirmed his upward trend. Tom Kristensen on position seven managed a remarkable DTM comeback. The record Le Mans winner stood in at short notice for Mike Rockenfeller who is taking a break after his severe accident at Le Mans. By setting the fastest time in the first free practice session on Friday Kristensen had already suggested that he is still competitive in the DTM.
For the first time in his still young DTM career the Portuguese Filipe Albuquerque (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) managed the leap into the top eight. Timo Scheider in ninth place missed Q3 by a mere 15 thousandths of a second.
With Miguel Molina and Edoardo Mortara on positions eleven and twelve a total of eight Audi A4 DTM cars will start into the race from the top twelve grid positions. Only Rahel Frey was eliminated as early as in Q1. However, the young Swiss is in good company on the last row. Standing alongside her is former Formula 1 racer Ralf Schumacher, who was still in contention for victory 14 days ago at Spielberg, which clearly shows how close the competition is in the DTM.
For the race a 30-percent probability of rain has been predicted. Audi last won at the Lausitzring six years ago.