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Mercedes strikes back

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Gary Paffett and Mercedes have taken pole position for the race tommorow. His teammate Mika Häkkinen will start beside him on the front row. Audi was looking strong in qualifying with four cars in the top five, but during the Super Pole only Mattias Ekström was able to put his Audi in the top five.

Qualifying was disapointing for Opel as well. Even though they looked strong during testing, they only managed to get two cars in the Super Pole. In that session Frentzen only took tenth place. Laurent Aiello was able to bring some comfort with fifth spot, but on Opels hometrack it’s a dissapointing result overall.

Whereas Opel looked strong in testing, Mercedes couldn’t keep up with the pace. How different it was during the Super Pole session. Three Mercedes-drivers managed to set a top 5 time: Paffett, Häkkinen and Schneider. Green and Alesi just missed out on the Super Pole.

Everything was going Audi’s way, untill the start of the Super Pole session. Audi was strong during testing and in the regular qualifying, but all the drivers made big errors in their one lap in the Super Pole. A big dissapointment for a team that want to regain the lead of the championship.