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Quotes from Qualifying

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The new qualifying setup was a success among the drivers. The teams had alot to do during the different sessions. Mercedes made the best effort claiming top three ahead of the Audis. The Audi team had some problems, Tom Kristensen and Heinz-Harald Frentzen managed to disturb each other during their laps.

Frentzen was in the way for Kristsensen on his quick lap. Kristensen responded by sideswiping the German on his way past. Read comments from these two and many more below from qualifying.

Jamie Green, Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes C-Class (Pole Position):

“It’s the biggest challenge of the new qualifying format, that you now have to post three optimum laps instead of only one. Today I managed to do so and I’m really happy about my third DTM pole position. My team had prepared the car perfectly and I want to thank everybody for their work.”

Bernd Schneider, Vodafone AMG-Mercedes C-Class (2nd place):

“I’m satisfied with my second position on the grid. My qualifying was almost perfect and the car was well prepared. We will now try to find the last eight hundredths of a second to be faster than Jamie. The new qualifying is really exciting and a great show for the spectators.“

Bruno Spengler, DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes C-Class (3rd place):

“I improved from session to session and I’m happy with today’s result. Maybe a position on the first row was possible. Our mechanics worked all night to repair the car after yesterday’s damage. I thank everybody for their immense efforts.”

Martin Tomczyk, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (4th place):

“The qualifying was super. I’m happy to be the quickest Audi driver. Big compliments to my team: The car was really perfect to drive – in all three sessions it was like running on rails. Of course the icing on the cake would have been to clock the best time in the third session as well.”

Stefan Mücke, TV-Spielfilm AMG-Mercedes C-Class (5th place):

“It’s great to be fifth with a last year’s C-Class and we achieved our aim to qualify among the top-eight. The team gave me a perfect car and I thank them for their good job.”

Mattias Ekström, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (6th place):

“I really like the new qualifying format very much, it was pretty exciting. In the end, we weren’t quite at the front. The car obviously had more grip than I thought – I suppose I wasn’t fast enough. Sixth place the first time round is okay. And the points aren’t awarded until tomorrow. We’re well prepared. I’m looking forward to the race.”

Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (8th place):

“The new qualifying format is good – I think for the spectators, the DTM has now become even more interesting. Of course for us, the drivers, it’s a thrilling situation, too. I’m sorry about the misunderstanding with Tom (Kristensen). Unfortunately the radio communications didn’t work properly so that my team wasn’t able to warn me.”

Tom Kristensen, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (9th place):

“In the qualifying practice, everything has to be perfect in terms of timing. In the second section we had planned to start on used tyres so the car would warm up in order to then make a quick pit stop. That worked according to plan and I was on a fast lap when I caught a white car that wouldn’t move out of the way. To be eliminated that way was frustrating of course. But it wasn’t intentional, it was a misunderstanding within the team.”