Quotes after qualifying at the Nürburgring

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “Following the qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring that proved difficult for us, we regained our typical strength. In the race, we’ve traditionally been stronger than in qualifying, that’s why I’m pretty confident that one of our five guys can ultimately make it onto the top step of the podium tomorrow. But, obviously, to do so, they’ll have to get past Marco Wittmann first.”

Dieter Gass (Head of DTM): “The starting base is definitely good. With five Audi cars in the top six we’re well set, even though it wasn’t quite enough for clinching the pole position. But looking at Marco Wittmann’s performance, you can only take your hat off. For us it was important to again show a solid team performance at the front and to put ourselves in a position of being in contention for race victory tomorrow.”

Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Audi RS 5 DTM), grid position 2
“I can hardly believe it. We had six tough qualifying sessions and suddenly we’re running well. We changed something on the set-up and used the full potential today. It was a great qualifying session and I’m very optimistic for the race.”

Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM), grid position 3
“I’m very pleased with qualifying. I was out in the middle of nowhere in free practice this morning and hadn’t expected our car to be running so well. Our Audi was nice to drive. With a little more fortune we might have even been able to battle for pole in the end. A tenth more was no doubt possible, but the lap was definitely very good and I was on a roll. It was a qualifying session of the kind I’d been used to for some time. Today was a relief.”

Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM), grid position 4
“I’m happy. Fourth place is a good starting base. I’m hoping to clinch a top result tomorrow. The whole Audi team seems to be in good shape.”

Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM), grid position 5
“We saw a thrilling qualifying session. In the wet conditions at the beginning you had to do everything right. In the end, on the dry track, we were actually good but, unfortunately, I wasn’t happy with my last set of tires, lacking grip on the rear axle. That’s why I wasn’t able to improve any more on my last shot.”

Miguel Molina (Audi Sport Audi RS 5 DTM), grid position 6
“The conditions kept changing today. This kind of qualifying is a great challenge because you continually have to react to the conditions. Sixth place is a good starting base. The chances of finishing on podium aren’t bad.”

Nico Müller (Audi Financial Services RS 5 DTM), grid position 10
“These were obviously very difficult conditions. From that perspective, position ten isn’t too bad. But I did have higher expectations in the second session. The first tire set functioned superbly and I was far at the front in the first part of the session. Now we need to find out why nothing was possible anymore on the second tire set. But, basically, the chances in the race are okay for me.”

Adrien Tambay (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM), grid position 11
“I made a mistake in the second session. We had the speed for Q3 but I didn’t put it on track. Grid position eleven isn’t good but it’s not a bad starting base for the race either. Making a mistake in Q1 in these difficult conditions would have been worse.”  

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM), grid position 22
“It was a poor qualifying session, that’s clear. It’s going to be a long way from grid position 22 tomorrow.”

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “Congratulations to Edoardo (Mortara). He showed a great qualifying performance. It would almost have been enough for the pole position. In contrast, things were obviously not going well for Mattias (Ekström). He didn’t manage a top lap in Q1. Now we’ve got to make a joint effort of bringing Edoardo to the very front and having Mattias still achieve a good result. Adrien (Tambay) and Miguel (Molina) are in the middle of the field – we’re definitely going to see a thrilling race tomorrow.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): “It was a turbulent day with changeable weather and starting the first part of qualifying in the wet. We did everything right. The drivers optimally put everything on track in dry conditions, despite not having had much practice on a dry track. Big compliments to them. Both are in the top five. We wouldn’t have expected that after the first free practice session.  From these positions, we’ve now got a lot of possibilities in the race and are going to give everything tomorrow to clinch the first Audi victory of the season.”  

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): “It was a gripping qualifying session. Nico (Müller) was only seven hundredths of a second short of making it into the third session. In Jamie’s (Green) case we gambled a bit with the tires. It didn’t quite pan out the way we’d been hoping it would. But, still, fourth place is superb.”

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