DTM 2010

Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) clinched the 55th pole position for Audi in the DTM at Valencia. Overall, Audi managed to show a strong qualifying performance with eight Audi A4 DTM cars on the top eleven grid positions. Quotes from the Audi camp.

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“That was a thrilling qualifying with a good result for Audi. Whenever the situation gets really tight, Mattias (Ekström) keeps being the one who makes the crucial difference: a great showing by him and the whole team. Of course I’m happy as well that Miguel (Molina) managed to make it into the top eight on his home track. Now we’ll try and convert the good qualifying result into a corresponding race result and to turn the tables here after the disappointment at Hockenheim.”

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #5), grid position 1
“It’s a nice feeling to be on the pole position. It’s also a sort of reward for the mechanics and the team after such a good performance on their part. The driver can only deliver what’s in the car. Now we’ve got to prepare for the race with even more vigorous work. We’ve got to solve all the problems and drive a flawless race.”

Oliver Jarvis (Tabac Original Audi A4 DTM #2), grid position 3
“That was an exciting qualifying! The first segment was great. I went into the second qualifying, which went very well, too, full of self-confidence. In Q3 I made a huge mistake. With a lot of luck I still made it into Q4 but had to start as the first car. That was a slight disadvantage. After my problems in Q3 I tackled this session a bit too coolly. I was only lacking two and a half tenths to pole. It’s nice to be so far at the front, to be able to compete for a podium and maybe to even have a chance of winning.”

Mike Rockenfeller (S line Audi A4 DTM), grid position 6
“I’d been hoping to get through Q1 on one set of tires. That totally went wrong. It was super-difficult to manage a lap to a T. We tried something with the gear ratio today but that proved to be a worse choice, so we’ll change the car again for Sunday. Of course position six is great but on the first lap of the third qualifying session I made a big mistake. I drove through the dirt and only achieved my time on the second lap. I could have made it into Q4. Instead I finished as the best driver of a year-old car. That was our goal and we achieved it. I want to thank the team. We’ll attack in the race.”

Miguel Molina (Audi Bank A4 DTM), grid position 7
“That was a good qualifying. In my first race I made it into the second qualifying and on my second weekend even into Q3. I keep moving forward but I’ve got some more learning to do. We can still improve. Nevertheless, I’m happy with grid position seven.”

Alexandre Prémat (TV Movie Audi A4 DTM), grid position 8
“This was a very emotional qualifying that went pretty well. Eighth place, in the end, is okay. But more would have been possible. I made two or three small mistakes in Q3. In turn 2 and 5 I lost a lot of time and wasn’t able to make use of the initial performance of the tires. That was my fault. The car was absolutely perfect. Otherwise Q4 would have been possible without major problems.”

Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Cola Audi A4 DTM #6), grid position 9
“This was not satisfactory. We slightly misjudged the grip conditions on the track. The track changed a lot over the weekend. We didn’t reach the maximum because the track had more potential. This way, I lost time compared with the others.”

Timo Scheider (GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM), grid position 10
“This was extremely disappointing for me. After our tests on this circuit I had a clearly better feeling. But I’ve got a huge problem with the tires. We simply can’t achieve good balance. That seems to be the problem. Tenth place is another catastrophic result. We’re simply lacking performance at the moment.”

Markus Winkelhock (Playboy/GW:plus Audi A4 DTM), grid position 11
“I did best in the first qualifying session. In Q2 I had the feeling that I could have driven faster. But particularly on the last set of tires I had a lot more understeer than before. That’s why, unfortunately, I didn’t achieve a better time.”

Katherine Legge (Glamour Audi A4 DTM), grid position 18
“I had two trials in Q2. On the first lap everything was okay. Then the rear tires degraded. It seems like we’ve still got to work with the tires a lot more. That’s our main problem at the moment. My Audi was absolutely okay. On the second set the car felt completely different although the pressures and temperatures were the same. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong.”

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
“Well done to the whole team. We never give up. We always try to squeeze everything out of the car. Mattias (Ekström) showed that it’s possible when everything fits together. His lap was superb. Congratulations to him. Miguel (Molina), too, showed a great performance at his home round. He’s more than just a junior man. Being so far at the front on just his second weekend is a great feeling for him.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
“Super! Hockenheim already suggested how well-balanced the regulations are. Both cars are among the top eight. ‘Rocky’ is very close to the top. Basically, we’re on a par with the newer cars. Alexandre Prémat, too, did a very good job. The same goes for my team. It perfectly timed the trials of both cars. They did everything right. That’s why we achieved this result. I’m highly pleased.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
“It was difficult and the gaps were incredibly small. One, two tenths made the difference. It’s too bad that the last set of tires didn’t work out for Markus (Winkelhock). Before the start and finish he went straight in a turn because his car had heavy understeer. Then it was over. That’s too bad because more would have been possible as the example of the other year-old cars shows. For Katherine (Legge), unfortunately, things didn’t fit together today. That’s a shame because she had a better start into her weekend than she did at Hockenheim.”