Spengler starting from pole position at the EuroSpeedway
Klettwitz. Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz) will be starting from pole position for the second time this season. In qualifying at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, the Franco-Canadian secured himself the best possible grid position for the race on Sunday with a lap time of 1:18.408 minutes. With his AMG Mercedes C-Class, he had already been fastest in qualifying for the season opener at Hockenheim. Lining up alongside him on the front row of the grid on Sunday will be his team-mate, two times? Formula 1 world champion Mika H?kkinen. The Finn came 0.113 seconds short of Spengler?s time. The Mercedes-Benz trio on top was completed by Paul di Resta with a 2005-spec AMG Mercedes C-Class. Alexandre Pr?mat scored the best qualifying result for Audi. With the 2006-spec Audi A4 DTM, the Frenchman claimed sixth place behind Bernd Schneider and Jamie Green, who were fourth and fifth respectively. The mechanics of the Audi Team Phoenix showed a strong performance in repairing the broken suspension of the left rear wheel on Pr?mat?s car in the second qualifying heat within a few minutes. With the current Audi A4 DTM cars, Mattias Ekstr?m, Timo Scheider and Martin Tomczyk are starting from ninth to eleventh place for the third round of the season.
Qualifying in detail
Air temperature: 24.3 ?C
Track temperature: 35.6 ?C
13.28 hrs. Qualifying starts, Susie Stoddart is the first driver to go out on the track
13.31 hrs. Mathias Lauda sets a lap time of 1:20.731, Lucas Luhr outpaces the Austrian with 1:20.533, then Di Resta is on top with 1:20.332
13.32 hrs. Mike Rockenfeller is fastest with 1:19.813
13.35 hrs. Paul di Resta is in the lead with 1:19.748, but then Bruno Spengler counters and comes out on top with 1:19.509. After that, Schneider is fastest with 1:19.351 and finally Green is in the lead with 1:19.177
13.36 hrs. At the moment, Luhr, H?kkinen, Winkelhock, Abt, Carroll and Ickx are out of the top 14. Bernd Schneider sets the fastest time: 1:18.909
13.39 hrs. Currently, Schneider is leading from green, Di Resta, Spengler, Paffett, Margaritis and Scheider
13.40 hrs. H?kkinen improves from 17th to third with a lap time of 1:19.426, then Margaritis takes third with 1:19.408. Di Resta counters with 1.19.330
13.41 hrs. Winkelhock briefly off the track. 14th placed Pr?mat off the track, damaged left rear wheel suspension. Carroll improves from 15th to eighth
13.44 hrs. Schneider is fastest from Green, La Rosa, H?kkinen, Di Resta, Scheider, Paffett, Carroll, Margaritish, Spengler, Lauda, Ekstr?m, Tomczyk and Pr?mat.
13.45 hrs. Drivers not in the second session are Rockenfeller, Luhr, Stoddart, Abt, Winkelhock and Ickx
13.49 hrs. The second session starts, Martin Tomczyk is the first driver out
13.51 hrs. Alexandre Pr?mat back on the track after a quick suspension repair
13.52 hrs. Jamie Green on top with 1:18.916
13.55 hrs. Green remains on top from H?kkinen and Di Resta. Alexandre Pr?mat improves from ninth to third
13.56 hrs. Bruno Spengler into second with 1:18.967
13.57 hrs. Paul di Resta is now fastest with 1:18.530
13.59 hrs. Margaritis from 11th to eighth, pushes Ekstr?m out of the top eight
14.00 hrs. End of the session. Di Resta remains fastest from Green, Spengler, Schneider, H?kkinen, Pr?mat, La Rosa and Margaritis. Not making it into the final heat are Ekstr?m, Scheider, Tomczyk, Carroll, Paffett and Lauda
14.06 hrs. Final heat starts. Alexandre Pr?mat is the first driver out on the track
14.08 hrs. Bruno Spengler is fastest with 1:18.408
14.11 hrs. All cars on the track, Spengler fastest from H?kkinen, Schneider, Di Resta, Pr?mat
14.12 hrs. Di Resta outpaces Bernd Schneider and takes third place with 1:18.660
14.15 hrs. End of the session. Spengler remains on top from H?kkinen, Di Resta, Schneider, Green, Pr?mat, Margaritis and La Rosa
