3rd July, 2010
Maiden DTM pole position for Ralf Schumacher
DTM
Nuremberg. In summery hot temperatures, Ralf Schumacher (Mercedes-Benz) remained cool in DTM qualifying at the Norisring in Nuremberg. At the 2.3 kilometres long street circuit, the German claimed pole position for the first time in his DTM career. None of the other drivers succeeded in beating his lap time of 48.721 seconds in the fourth qualifying heat. Schumacher’s fellow Mercedes-Benz driver Bruno Spengler will be lining up alongside the German on the front row of the starting grid. The Franco-Canadian was 0.069 seconds short of Schumacher’s time. On Sunday, Jamie Green (Mercedes-Benz) and Martin Tomczyk (Audi) will be starting from the second grid row into the fourth season round. An extensive press release with quotes will follow shortly.
Qualifying in detail
Air temperature: 34.8 °C
Asphalt temperature: 49.3 °C
13.45 hrs Start of qualifying. Prémat is the first driver to go out on the track.
13.47 hrs Prémat tops the time sheet with 49.266, then Tomczyk takes over first place with 48.935. Rockenfeller takes the lead with 48.896 later on.
13.48 hrs Jamie Green is on top with 48.803.
13.49 hrs Tomczyk is now fastest with 48.768, but his time is beaten by David Coulthard: 48.766 and Alexandre Prémat: 48.754. Then Schumacher is fastest with 48.636.
13.50 hrs Tomczyk on top again with 48.537. Schumacher improves to 48.573 and is second.
13.51 hrs Schumacher on top: 48.399. Ekström is the only driver yet to complete a lap.
13.52 hrs Schumacher remains first, followed by Prémat, Spengler, Tomczyk, Di Resta, Engel, Green, Jarvis, Paffett and Cheng.
13.53 hrs After his first flying lap, Ekström is 13th.
13.54 hrs Ekström improves to eleventh. Legge improves from 18th to 15th.
13.55 hrs Winkelhock moves up into tenth.
13.57 hrs End of the session. The following drivers are not classified for the second heat: Legge, Rockenfeller, Stoddart and Molina.
13.58 hrs Schumacher remains fastest from Green, Engel, Prémat, Tomczyk, Spengler, Di Resta, Scheider, Cheng, Paffett, Jarvis, Winkelhock, Ekström and Coulthard.
14.04 hrs Start of the second heat. Timo Scheider is the first driver to go out.
14.06 hrs Jarvis is currently on top with 48.517.
14.07 hrs Paffett is now fastest with 48.431, followed by Spengler and Schumacher.
14.08 hrs Ekström is fastest again with 48.334.
14.10 hrs Ekström remains fastest, followed by Spengler, Paffett, Tomczyk, Schumacher, Jarvis.
14.11 hrs Prémat spins at Schöller-S. Green improves from 11th to third.
14.13 hrs End of the session. Not qualified for the next heat are Engel, Scheider, Prémat, Winkelhock, Coulthard and Cheng.
14.14 hrs Ekström remains fastest from Spengler, Schumacher, Green, Paffett, Tomczyk, Jarvis and Di Resta.
14.21 hrs Start of the third heat, Jarvis is the first driver to go out.
14.23 hrs Tomczyk is fastest with 48.840.
14.24 hrs Tomczyk remains on top, followed by Ekström, Spengler and Jarvis.
14.25 hrs Schumacher improves from sixth to third place with 48.485. Spengler is now fastest with 48.356.
14.26 hrs Green moves up into third place. End of the session. Spengler remains fastest from Tomczyk, Green and Schumacher. Not qualified for the fourth and final heat are Ekström, Jarvis, Paffett and Di Resta.
14.35 hrs Ralf Schumacher: 48.721.
14.37 hrs Jamie Green: 48.950.
14.38 hrs Martin Tomczyk: 48.970.
14.40 hrs Bruno Spengler: 48.790.
