03.05.2008
All good things come in threes: Timo Scheider on pole again
Mugello. 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 Ekstr?m, 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.?
