Oct 25, 2008
Eleven races, eight best times in qualifying: the Audi A4 DTM is clearly the quickest car of the 2008 DTM season. At the finale at the Hockenheimring the Swede Mattias Ekström clinched the eighth pole position of the year for Audi. Leader of the standings Timo Scheider will start to the most crucial race (Sunday, starting at 1:45 p.m., local time, live on "Das Erste") from position three, just behind his rival for the title Paul di Resta (Mercedes). A total of six Audi drivers made it into the top ten.
In a gripping qualifying, Ekström beat the existing DTM track record by more than four tenths of a second. The Swede was 40 thousandths of a second quicker than Paul di Resta. Timo Scheider in third place secured a good starting base for the race as well.
For the third consecutive time, an Audi A4 DTM will start from the top grid postion at a DTM race at the Hockenheimring. For Audi, it will be the 45th pole position in the DTM altogether. After Zandvoort, Mattias Ekström is on pole for the second time this year.
The qualifying on Saturday started with a moment of shock for Markus Winkelhock, who on entering the Motodrome lost control of his Playboy Audi A4 DTM and crashed against a tyre wall. The German remained unhurt but has to settle for the last grid position on Sunday.
At the beginning of the second qualifying segment Timo Scheider approached Turn 1 a little too far on the inside. His GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM briefly lifted off the kerbs and came down with a hard landing. After a quick repair the leader of the standings was able to continue with qualifying and showed strong nerves. At the last moment, he bumped Mercedes driver Jamie Green from third place on the grid.
Martin Tomczyk and Tom Kristensen will be splitting the fourth row on the grid on Sunday. Directly behind them will be Mike Rockenfeller, Oliver Jarvis and Alexandre Prémat in the best cars from last year. All three Audi drivers outperformed all 2007-spec Mercedes cars.
A strong qualifying performance was also shown by Christijan Albers, who secured 13th place on the grid in the two-year old A4 of the Audi customer team Futurecom TME.
For the race on Sunday, similarly good weather as during the qualifying has been forecast. Timo Scheider goes into the finale with a two-point advantage over Paul di Resta. On Friday, the leader of the standings shone with a strong race simulation.
At the season opener at the Hockenheimring in April, Audi celebrated a one-two-three victory and will have the chance on Sunday to successfully defend the DTM champion’s title for the first time since 1990/1991. A good omen for Timo Scheider: last year Mattias Ekström clinched the title from grid position three at the finale as well.
The starting grid at Hockenheim
1 Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM) 1m 32.244s
2 Paul di Resta (Mercedes) 1m 32.284s
3 Timo Scheider (GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM) 1m 32.492s
4 Jamie Green (Mercedes) 1m 32.615s
5 Bernd Schneider (Mercedes) 1m 32.680s
6 Bruno Spengler (Mercedes) 1m 32.769s
7 Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM) 1m 32.930s
8 Tom Kristensen (Audi A4 DTM) 1m 33.005s
9 Mike Rockenfeller (S line Audi A4 DTM) 1m 33.578s
10 Oliver Jarvis (Best Buddies Audi A4 DTM) 1m 33.612s
11 Alexandre Prémat (Audi Bank/Shell Helix Audi A4 DTM) 1m 33.737s
12 Gary Paffett (Mercedes) 1m 33.742s
13 Christijan Albers (Audi A4 DTM) 1m 33.770s
14 Maro Engel (Mercedes) 1m 33.935s
15 Mathias Lauda (Mercedes) 1m 34.459s
16 Ralf Schumacher (Merceds) 1m 34.499s
17 Susie Stoddart (Mercedes) 1m 34.665s
18 Katherine Legge (Audi A4 DTM) 1m 35.756s
19 Markus Winkelhock (Playboy Audi A4 DTM) no time
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