Bernd Schneider secures pole position in Spain
Barcelona. In the final second of DTM qualifying at the Circuit de Catalunya, Bernd Schneider claimed pole position for the ninth round of the season with his AMG Mercedes C-Class. With his fastest lap time of 1:07.248 minutes, the DTM record champion beat the current points? leader Timo Scheider, who ended up second. At the 2.977 kilometres long track near Barcelona in Spain, the Audi driver was 0.031 seconds down. Paul di Resta (Mercedes-Benz) and Martin Tomczyk (Audi) will be starting the race from the second row. Jamie Green (Mercedes-Benz), Mattias Ekstr?m (Audi), Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) and Alexandre Pr?mat (Audi) will start from fifth to eighth place. For Bernd Schneider, it is the first pole position of the current season and the 25th DTM pole in his 25 years in motor racing. Tom Kristensen (Audi) and Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz) were already out after the second heat, they will start from ninth and tenth place respectively. An extensive press release with quotes from the drivers and the motorsport directors will follow shortly.
Qualifying in detail
Weather: sunny
Air temperature: 25.6 ?C
Asphalt temperature: 32.2 ?C
13.28 hrs The DTM qualifying at the Circuit de Catalunya.
13:28 hrs Start of the first session of 14 minutes, Maro Engel is the first driver on the track.
13:31 hrs Accordingly, Engel is the first driver with a fast lap time: 1.08.522.
13:31 hrs Winkelhock is the first driver to lap under 1.08 minutes with 1.07.817.
13:34 hrs Rockenfeller is first with 1.07.649, then Timo Scheider takes first place with a lap time of 1.07.501.
13:35 hrs Tom Kristensen is fastest: 1.07.360.
13:35 hrs All drivers apart from Di Resta have now completed at least two timed laps. The Scotsman is the last to go out.
13:37 hrs Currently, Bernd Schneider is the best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver in fifth place.
13:37 hrs Most drivers are in the pits, waiting for their final attempt.
13:39 hrs Less than three minutes to go, Albers and Schumacher are the first drivers to go out again to have a final go.
13:41 hrs Most of the drivers stay in the pits as the front positions appear to have been taken.
13:42 hrs Time is over. Kristensen remains fastest from Scheider, di Resta, Rockenfeller, Jarvis, Schneider, Tomczyk, Spengler, Green and Winkelhock.
13:42 hrs The following drivers haven't made it into the second heat: Engel, Lauda, Schumacher, Stoddart and Legge.
13:49 hrs Start of the second session of 10 minutes, Alexandre Pr?mat is the first driver on the track.
13:52 hrs Timo Scheider is fastest with 1.07.426, but then Tomczyk takes first place with 1.07.406.
13:54 hrs Green is fastest on his first flying lap: 1.07.355, while Ekstr?m takes second place with 1.07.360.
13:54 hrs Just like in the first session, Paul di Resta is the last driver to go out.
13:56 hrs Paul di Resta is first with 1.07.170.
13:59 hrs In the final minute, Timo Scheider moves up into second place with a lap time of 1.07.322.
14:00 hrs End of the session. Di Resta remains fastest from Scheider, Green, Ekstr?m, Tomczyk, Schneider, Pr?mat, Rockenfeller.
14:00 hrs The following drivers haven't made it into the final heat: Kristensen, Spengler, Jarvis, Albers, Paffett and Winkelhock.
14:06 hrs Start of the third and final heat, Pr?mat is the first driver on the track.
14:08 hrs Timo Scheider is first: 1.07.456.
14:09 hrs Jamie Green moves up into second place, but is then outpaced by his team-mate Paul di Resta with 1.07.506.
14:11 hrs Timo Scheider has improved his own fastest lap time to 1.07.437.
14:11 hrs Most drivers in the pits for a final tyre change.
14:13 hrs Bernd Schneider moves up into second place with a lap time of 1.07.461.
14:13 hrs Mike Rockenfeller claims third with 1.07.494.
14:14 hrs Martin Tomczyk from eighth to second: 1.07.346.
14:15 hrs Ekstr?m from eighth to third, completing the top three for Audi with a lap time of 1.07.404.
14:16 hrs End of the session. In the final second, Bernd Schneider takes first place with a fastest lap time of 1.07.248. Timo Scheider is second from Di Resta, Tomczyk, Green, Ekstr?m, Rockenfeller and Pr?mat.
