DTM 2009
100 Jahre Audi – A4 DTM #2 (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline), Tom Kristensen

With the seventh pole position in a row, Audi continued its string of posting the fastest qualifying times in the DTM. Seven Audi A4 DTM cars will start to the race (from 1:45 pm live on “Das Erste”) from the four front rows. Quotes after qualifying.

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“A great day for Audi. Having seven cars in the top eight is a very special result. Our 2009-spec vehicles showed a thrilling fight for the two front rows of the grid. Of course these are perfect prerequisites, but the race is only on Sunday. Our objective is clear: We want to take home as many points as possible.”

Tom Kristensen (100 Jahre Audi – A4 DTM #2), grid position 1
“Pole in the DTM – that’s a nice feeling. My thanks to the whole squad that perfectly prepared the Audi A4 DTM. The DTM is currently as competitive as it’s rarely been and that makes this top grid position something really special.”

Timo Scheider (GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM #1), grid position 2
“First of all, congratulations to Tom on clinching the pole position – he drove a sensational lap. We were bound and determined to show a strong qualifying here at Oschersleben and carefully prepared ourselves accordingly. The cohesive team performance with four cars at the top and seven Audi A4 DTM cars among the top eight is a nice reward for the guys.”

Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Cola Audi A4 DTM #6), grid position 3
“I’m personally very happy with my qualifying, but the Audi squad can be especially proud of this outstanding result. Although all of us expected front grid positions due to our lower weight this has to be converted into reality first. The starting base fits, now in the race it will be about making the optimum out of it.”

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #5), grid position 4
“It’s great that our four new Audi cars are all the way in front, followed by the year-old cars. Of course I’d have liked to advance even a bit further in the last qualifying but I didn’t quite make it. Nevertheless, the second row on the grid is a good starting base for the race.”

Oliver Jarvis (Audi Cup A4 DTM #15), grid position 5
“That was a good qualifying, because in the end I clinched fifth place. In the first segment I made a big mistake. Something got caught in my eye and I wasn’t able to see much on the right. That’s why we had to use two trials at the beginning and used up a second set of tires. Except for that, things went well and it’s particularly nice to be the best driver of a year-old car again.”

Alexandre Prémat (Audi Bank A4 DTM #14), grid position 6
“Qualifying went really well. We all showed good performances, both the drivers of the new and the old cars. Seven Audi drivers are among the top eight. That’s good with a view toward the championship. Now, I’m hoping to score lots of points on Sunday so that my season will finally begin in earnest.”

Mike Rockenfeller (S line Audi A4 DTM #11), grid position 8
“It was damned tight making it into the third qualifying. In this third segment things were really difficult once more. If you look at how close the field is up to fifth place you’ll note that another tenth should have been possible. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. I didn’t have a completely clear track on my last trial and second set of tires. That probably cost me a tenth.”

Markus Winkelhock (Playboy Audi A4 DTM #12), grid position 13
“As early as in free practice I had problems dealing with the balance of my car. That didn’t change in qualifying either. The car differed completely from one set of tires to the next. I never knew how the car would respond. It was extremely difficult to drive. We need to find and correct the cause by tomorrow.”

Katherine Legge (Audi Collection A4 DTM # 21), grid position 15
“Qualifying, unfortunately, was a disaster. On the first trial I didn’t manage driving a good full lap. The second outing, on the other hand, started off well. But then Maro Engel obstructed me. Unfortunately, we’re far at the end of the grid which will make life more difficult for us on Sunday.”

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
“Today we did everything right. A super result and a very good team result. That’s what you wish for as a team director and I can just say ‘well done.’ I hope things will continue this way.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
“Outstanding! We had another good qualifying. The new Audi cars are the benchmark at Oschersleben. But following behind them is definitely a super result. You can do quite a bit in the race from places five and seven. In the first quarter of qualifying we’d have liked to save a set of tires but the first trial was not optimal for either of our two drivers. These lacking tires potentially deprived us of the chance to have perhaps finished among the top four in the end.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
“’Rocky’ was running well when he caught Martin Tomczyk, who was warming up his tires, in the first fast chicane. That caused him to lose a bit of time; otherwise a better result would have been possible. We’ve still got to analyze what happened with Markus (Winkelhock). One set of tires worked well, the next one didn’t again – the situation differed quite a bit.”