Gary Paffett on pole position for the season opener

[fasteddy]

DTM       

Hockenheim. Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz) will be on pole position for the DTM season opener at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. In qualifying, the Brit drove a fastest lap time of 1:33.214 minutes, securing himself the best starting grid position for the opening round of the season. Martin Tomczyk (Audi) also made it onto the front row of the grid. The German was just 0.076 seconds short of pole position and will be starting from second place alongside Paffett for the first race of the season.. Bruno Spengler and Jamie Green (both Mercedes-Benz) will be starting from the second row of the grid. Second-fastest Audi driver in qualifying was Swede Mattias Ekström (Audi) in fifth place. David Coulthard (Mercedes-Benz) ended up 17th in his maiden DTM qualifying. An extensive press release with quotes will follow shortly.

Qualifying at a glance
Air temperature: 22,6 °C
Track temperature: 33,6 °C
13.45 hrs   Qualifying starts. Coulthard is the first driver to go out on the track.
13.48 hrs   Lap time for David Coulthard: 1:35.352.
13.49 hrs   Jamie Green tops the time sheet with 1:34.229.
13.50 hrs   Mike Rockenfeller is now second. Timo Scheider had his lap time disallowed because of leaving the track.
13.51 hrs   Martin Tomczyk is now fastest with 1:33.433.
13.53 hrs   Four minutes remaining. Tomczyk is still fastest, followed by Spengler, Green, Paffett, Di Resta, Ekström, Rockenfeller, Jarvis, Prémat and Engel.
13.55 hrs   Coulthard improves from 17th to 16th.
13.58 hrs   Engel improves to fourth. Not classified for the second heat are Stoddart, Schumacher, Coulthard and Legge.
13.59 hrs   Tomczyk remains fastest from Spengler, Green, Engel, Scheider, Paffett, Prémat, Di Resta, Ekström and Rockenfeller.
14.04 hrs   Start of the second heat. Paffett is the first driver out.
14.07 hrs   Jamie Green is fastest with 1:33.005, then Bruno Spengler takes over with 1:32.818 and then Tomczyk claims first place with 1:32.748.
14.08 hrs   The first three drivers within six hundredths of a second with Tomczyk leading Paffett and Spengler.
14.11 hrs   With two minutes remaining, Ekström, Prémat, Winkelhock, Cheng, Molina and Engel wouldn\'t be qualified for the third heat.
14.13 hrs   Di Resta takes over first place with 1:32.708, while Ekström moves up from ninth into third.
14.14 hrs   Rockenfeller is now fastest with 1:32.647. End of the session.
14.15 hrs   Not qualified for the third heat are Scheider, Engel, Prémat, Winkelhock, Molina and Cheng.
14.16 hrs   Rockenfeller remains fastest from Di Resta, Tomczyk, Ekström, Paffett, Spengler, Jarvis and Green.
14.20 hrs   Start of the third heat, 6 minutes.
14.25 hrs   Jamie Green is fastest with 1:32.724, followed by Paffett, Tomczyk, Spengler, Jarvis and Rockenfeller.
14.26 hrs   End of the session. Green remains fastest from Paffett, Tomczyk, Spengler, Ekström, Jarvis, Rockenfeller and Di Resta.
14.27 hrs   Paul Di Resta improves from eighth to sixth. Green, Paffett, Tomczyk and Spengler move up into the fourth and final heat. Fifth to eighth places are occupied by Ekström, Di Resta, Jarvis and Rockenfeller.
14.34 hrs   Bruno Spengler: 1:33.319.
14.39 hrs   Martin Tomczyk: 1:33.290.
14.41 hrs   Gary Paffett: 1:33.214.
14.43 hrs   Jamie Green: 1:33.389.
14.44 hrs   Gary Paffett claims pole from Tomczyk, Spengler and Green.

[fasteddy]

DTM Hockenheim: Qualifying
Hockenheim
,
Apr 24, 2010

Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) will start Sunday’s first round of the 2010 DTM at Hockenheim from pole position. In the single-lap qualifying, Gary posted a lap time of 1m33.214. It is his seventh pole in his 60th DTM race and the 50th pole for Mercedes-Benz since the DTM’s relaunch in 2000.
 
Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) and Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) share the second row of the grid; Bruno came home third with a 1m33.319 ahead of Jamie with a 1m33.389 – they were separated by only seven hundredths of a second. Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) qualified sixth with a 1m33.193. The return to motor racing of 13-times grand prix winner and former McLaren Mercedes driver David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) ended in the first round of qualifying. David came home 17th with a 1m34.791 behind Ralf Schumacher (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class/1m34.361). Qualifying, part 1: Bruno Spengler was the fastest C-Class driver in second place (1m33.484). Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) ended up 15th with a 1m34.118 and missed the second round by six thousandths of a second. Ralf Schumacher (1m34.361) came home 16th ahead of David Coulthard (1m34.791). Qualifying, part 2: This time, Paul Di Resta was the best Mercedes-Benz driver; he ended up second with a 1m32.708. Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Klasse) qualified 10th with a 1m33.160 and DTM rookie CongFu Cheng ended up 14th with a 1m33.738. Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) pole position (1:33.214): “I am really happy to start the new season with pole position. I thank my team – the guys did a great job. We have a very good technical package and I look forward to Sunday’s race.” Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) third (1:33.319): “A good qualifying for me; in third place I will start right behind Gary on the clean side of the track. At turn two, there was dirt on the surface and at the hairpin I made a mistake under braking; therefore, I was not able to set a better time.” Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) fourth (1:33.389): “I am happy to have finished among the top four. Our team did a great job and I am confident for tomorrow’s race.” Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) sixth (1:33.193): “I am disappointed. There was a lot of dirt on the track from a car ahead of me – that was it.” Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) 10th (1:33.160): “The team showed what they are capable of. However, I had expected a better result and tomorrow I want to score points.” CongFu Cheng (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) 14th (1:33.738): “14th on the grid is not too bad for my first DTM race. I like the track and I didn’t have any technical problem; I just need some time to adjust.” Susie Stoddart (TV-Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) 15th (1:34.118): “I am disappointed because I missed the second round by only six thousandths of a second.” Ralf Schumacher (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class) 16th (1:34.361): “My first set of tyres didn’t work as well as I had expected and with the second set, I just ran out of time. I will put this behind me and focus on tomorrow’s race when I will push hard.” David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) 17th (1:34.791): “It was a lot more difficult than I had expected after the tests. Moreover, I had a problem with the balance of the car and suffered from understeer so I was not able to push harder. But Mücke Motorsport is an experienced team and supports me very well. With a good start, I should be able to achieve a better result tomorrow.” Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “Pole like Paffett – that fits; congratulations to Gary and the HWA team under Gerhard Ungar, everybody did a great job. It is the 50th pole since the start of the new DTM in 2000 and the 99th since Mercedes-Benz entered the DTM as a works team. Last Tuesday, Gary was stranded in China, like myself, and today on Saturday he is on pole, that shows his world-class. The season starts well for us with this first performance check. Three Mercedes on the first two rows and four C-Class cars among the first three rows are a great result – well done, guys. CongFu Cheng has a good debut with 14th on the grid; compliments. As expected, David first learned it the hard way today, but – don’t worry - he is a strong racer. That Ralf was out with his second set of tyres too late was our mistake – sorry for that. In tomorrow’s race we want to achieve a similar result like in today’s qualifying.”