All good things come in threes: Timo Scheider on pole again
Currently, things are going remarkably well for Timo Scheider.
In the third DTM qualifying session of the season, the 29-year
old Audi driver made it all the way up to the front once again.
With his Audi A4 DTM, the points leader lapped the 5.245 kilometres
long Mugello circuit in Italy in 1.43.079 minutes and thus
put an Audi on pole position for the eighth time in a row
– a new DTM record. “It is just unbelievable”,
Scheider said, overwhelmed. For the fifth time in his career,
the Austrian-based German will be starting from the best grid
position into a DTM race. Second place in qualifying went
to British driver, Jamie Green, who, with his AMG Mercedes
C-Class, was 0.322 seconds down. Dane Tom Kristensen (Audi)
will be starting from third place into the 33 lap race over
173.085 kilometres. On Sunday, the ARD will be broadcasting
the third DTM season round from Mugello live from 13.45 h
onwards.
It was the most capturing DTM qualifying session so far this
year. In summer-like temperatures of just below 30 degrees,
the lap times got better and better by the second, Mercedes-Benz
and Audi swapping places on top of the time screens all the
time. However, once again, Timo Scheider turned out to have
the best nerves. Only on his final attempt, the Audi driver
set his fastest time and toppled Jamie Green. Tom Kristensen
in third place is followed by his fellow-Audi driver, reigning
DTM champion Mattias Ekström, who was fourth fastest.
He, in turn, was followed by a trio of Mercedes-Benz drivers
with Paul di Resta (GB), Bruno Spengler (CAN) and DTM record
champion Bernd Schneider from Germany. Markus Winkelhock caused
a surprise by making it into the final heat of the shoot-out
qualifying for the first time this season. He will be starting
eighth as the best-placed driver with a year-old car.
Audi driver Martin Tomczyk was particularly disappointed
with his qualifying result in Tuscany. The runner-up in the
drivers’ standings failed to make it into the final
heat and will be starting twelfth for the third round of the
season. DTM rookie, Ralf Schumacher was significantly happier.
With his AMG Mercedes C-Class, he qualified right behind Tomczyk.
Following a driving error in the first heat, the 2005 DTM
champion, Gary Paffett (GB/Mercedes-Benz) didn’t do
any other lap that was sufficiently fast and will be starting
from 15th place.
Timo Scheider (1st grid position, Audi Sport Team
Abt): “This is just incredible. Being on pole
position for the third time in a row is something I just didn’t
expect. Actually, my goal was a place on the first two rows.
That it was enough for pole is just great. The team has given
me a perfect car that allowed me to make it into first place
on the grid. Now, it is up to me to turn this result into
a race win.”
Jamie Green (2nd grid position, Salzgitter AMG Mercedes):
“I am very happy with my performance in qualifying.
I set the right time at the right time. Compared to the first
two qualifyings, we have improved significantly. For Sunday,
we are in a good position.”
Tom Kristensen (3rd grid position, Audi Sport Team
Abt): “For me, it is mixed feelings. On one
hand, I am disappointed, pole position would have been nice.
On the other hand, I am happy with third place on the grid.
We knew beforehand that it would be difficult here, but you
only really know where you are in qualifying.”
Audi motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: “Qualifying
was very hard. Mercedes-Benz has done a great job and has
come closer. We knew that it would be difficult here with
20 kilograms of handicap weight, so I am all the more happy
with pole position. Surely, tomorrow’s race will be
very difficult. We had very good longruns and now only have
to adapt the set-up to the changed temperatures. Timo Scheider
got it all together for 100 percent in all the sectors of
his final lap. Apparently, together with his engineer, he
has found exactly that little difference in tyre pressure
that counts. The entire team has done a tremendous job, thanks
very much indeed.”
Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug:
“Qualifying was very exciting and surely entertaining
for the spectators. We have four cars in the top seven, that
is a very strong team performance. Congratulations to Timo
Scheider for pole position. Today, we were in the same league
as Audi, but not with him. That was a great performance, the
lap time impressed me. The times of the following six cars
are remarkably close, especially with this track being so
long. Now, we have to wait what tomorrow’s race will
bring. It will not be easy. We have made some very big steps
already, many thanks to the team for that. However, we are
still in the process of catching up. The longruns were promising
and we have shown that we are still there. Victory tomorrow
would be nice, but we could very well live with a podium finish,
too.”
Qualifying in detail
Air temperature: 26,1 °C
Track temperature: 29,4 °C
13:30 hrs Ralf Schumacher is the first driver out on the track
in the first session of 14 minutes, after which the 14 fastest
drivers will move up.
13:32 hrs Timo Scheider tops the time sheets with a lap time
of 1.43.833.
13:33 hrs Tom Kristensen moves up into first place with 1.43.569.
13:35 hrs Markus Winkelhock, who was fastest here in pre-season
testing at Mugello, is currently third with 1.43.891.
13:35 hrs Jamie Green is now the best-placed Mercedes-Benz
driver in second place with a lap time of 1.43.758.
13:36 hrs With six minutes left, Paul di Resta is the only
driver who still has to set a lap time at the 5.245 kilometres
long circuit.
13:37 hrs Di Resta moves up into eleventh place with 1.44.331.
13:38 hrs Ralf Schumacher improves from 15th to 13th place
and provisionally pushes Albers out of the second heat.
13:38 hrs With 3.30 minutes to go, it is still Kristensen
in the lead from Green, Scheider, Winkelhock, Prémat,
Jarvis, Tomczyk, Ekström, Schneider and Rockenfeller.
13:40 hrs At the moment, Albers, Paffett, Legge, Stoddart
and Lauda would be out of the second heat.
13:41 hrs Paffett moves uyp from 16th to 15th.
13:41 hrs Paffett off the track.
13:43 hrs End of session. Kristensen is fastest from Green,
Scheider, Winkelhock, Prémat, Jarvis, Tomczyk, Ekström,
Schneider and Rockenfeller.
13:43 hrs The following drivers have not made it into the
second heat: Paffett, Albers, Lauda, Lauda, Legge and Stoddart.
13:46 hrs Next session starts at 13.49.
13:49 hrs Tomczyk is the first driver on the track in this
session of ten minutes, after which the best eight drivers
will go through into the third and final heat.
13:53 hrs Tomczyk sets a fastest lapo time of 1.44.177, but
he is toppled by Timo Scheider with 1.43.672.
13:54 hrs Time improvements all the way: Kristensen is now
in front with 1.43.409 from di Resta (1.43.481), Ekström
(1.43.622) and Green (1.43.644).
13:56 hrs An apparent problem for di Resta: his car is being
pushed into the pit box.
13:56 hrs With 2.30 minutes remaining, Engel and Schumacher
are still without a lap time.
13:57 hrs At the moment, Jarvis, Tomczyk, Rockenfeller, Prémat,
Engel and Schumacher would be out of the third heat
13:59 hrs End of the session, but still many drivers on the
track. Kristensen remains on top from di Resta, Ekström,
Green, Scheider, Winkelhock
14:00 hrs The following drivers are out Prémat, Rockenfeller,
Jarvis, Tomczyk, Schumacher and Engel.
14:02 hrs Ekström comes out fastest with 1.43.396 from
Kristensen, di Resta, Green, Scheider, Winkelhock, Spengler
and Schneider. As a result, all four 2008-spec Mercedes cars
have made it into the final heat, plus 2008-Audis and one
2007-Audi.
14:02 hrs Third and final heat starts at 14.06.
14:06 hrs The problem on di Resta's car seems to be solved
as he is the first driver out for the nine minutes' final
dash.
14:10 hrs In spectacular style, di Resta sets a fastest lap
time of 1.43.487, but he is soon toppled by Scheider, Kristensen
and Green, who takes first with 1.43.401.
14:11 hrs Currently, the top four placed drivers are separated
by only 0.08 seconds!
14:13 hrs Two minutes to go, all drivers bar Winkelhock out
for a final attempt at pole position.
14:16 hrs Ekström improves from sixth to third, Scheider
improves from fourth to first with 1.43,079, Green remains
second.
14:18 hrs For the third time running, Timo Scheider claims
pole position. Jamie Green is best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver
in second from Tom Kristensen, Mattias Ekström, Paul
di Resta, Bruno Spengler, Bernd Schneider and Markus Winkelhock.
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