Driver quotes from qualifying

In the qualifying practice for the DTM race at Zandvoort (the Netherlands) Audi managed to show the squad’s strongest performance so far this year, even though Jamie Green from Mercedes took pole position. Here are the quotes from all 20 DTM drivers after the qualifying at Zandvoort.

Jamie Green – pole position:
“I did a couple of fast laps today and the last one wasn’t the quickest by one and a half tenths; however, it was good enough for pole position. Overtaking on this track is tricky; therefore, I have now the best basis for the race. My plan is a good start and a consistent speed in hopefully good weather. I thank my team for a perfect car.”

Tom Kristensen – 2nd fastest:
“I lost a bit of my concentration when Spengler left the pit in front of me. Whether or not this has cost me pole is hard to say, but of course I was somewhat baffled. Other than that, it was a good qualifying with maximum attack. All of my laps were at the limit. I’m very satisfied about being on the front row. The Audi squad has improved. Our times are now closer to each other. It’s good to have four cars among the top six here. But that was also necessary for maintaining our chances in the Championship.”

Martin Tomczyk – 3rd fastest:
“I’m satisfied because – finally – I’ve driven my fastest lap again on a weekend in qualifying – in other words when it counts most. The car was good, everything went smoothly. Third place is a super starting base and that one Mercedes at the front we’ll get rid of as well…”

Mattias Ekström – 4th fastest:
“I’m a bit surprised that none of the Audi drivers managed to finish at the very front and that a Mercedes was able to set such a good time. The performances of our cars were very balanced. I couldn’t have driven any faster than I did. My car was perfect and I’m satisfied with my qualifying. Of course the result would be even nicer if there weren’t a Mercedes at the front.”

Bruno Spengler – 5th fastest:
“I’m not quite happy, because I had hoped for more than fifth place. I pushed as hard as I could, but it was not possible to go faster. However, I’m still confident for the race, because the car is perfect and my long runs during free practice were promising.”

Heinz-Harald Frentzen – 6th fastest:
“In the penultimate trial I was clocking pretty good times. Unfortunately, my car had a bit too much understeer on the last set of tyres. Perhaps the inflation pressure wasn’t optimal. We need to take a closer look at this.”

Bernd Schneider – 7th fastest:
“I am disappointed. The car ran well, and I did not make a mistake, but I could not go faster. It will be a tough race tomorrow, but I will fight to maintain my advantage in the overall ranking.”

Pierre Kaffer – 8th fastest:
“In today’s qualifying everything fit to a T for the first time this season. The team did a good job. In the morning we made a few more changes which paid off. I’m happy that we made it to the first section and were able to bring home the result. At the beginning of the season we often lost out when we were slowed by traffic. Today, luck was on our side.”

Alexandros Margaritis – 9th fastest:
“Ninth position on the grid is not a bad basis, but when you miss the top-eight by only eight thousandths of a second, it is a bit frustrating. I am sorry for the incident with Stefan Mücke. I did not see him, there were no blue flags and my team did not warn me over the radio.”

Mika Häkkinen – 10th fastest:
“A great result for Jamie and Mercedes-Benz. My qualifying was a bit disappointing as I was not able to make best use of my last set of tyres; otherwise, I would have been in the top eight. It will be tough tomorrow starting from 10th, but I will battle to the end.”

Timo Scheider – 11th fastest:
“I’m a disappointed. Twice I was unfortunate to have sand on the track. Once Jean Alesi went off in front of me which cost me two or three tenths. On the last trial someone had apparently left the line in front of the chicane as well, putting sand on the tarmac. I noticed this in the next right-hander when I wasn’t able to turn in properly with a dirty front left-hand tyre. That’s a shame, we’d been hoping for a better result.”

Christian Abt – 12th fastest:
“The first outing was okay. In the second one I unfortunately made a braking mistake in the first turn on the first set of tyres, and the second set wasn’t optimal. In the first two corners I had no grip. Still, I made up four tenths there to my previous time. But in the last sector I lost it all again. That’s the DTM – you can be at the very front but if you make a mistake you’re out again. On Sunday, everything is still possible.”

Mathias Lauda – 13th fastest:
“I am happy to qualify for the second round of qualifying for the first time. I did not expect this after the free practice result, but our team did a great job to improve the car until the start of qualifying; hopefully, 13 will be my lucky number here.”

Stefan Mücke – 14th fastest:
“The coming-together with Alexandros was quite annoying, because I was on a fast lap. I thought that he had seen me, but then he came into my way. Now I have a difficult situation for the race, because it is really difficult to overtake in Zandvoort.”

Daniel la Rosa – 15th fastest:
“With my first set of tyres I had some problems with the balance. When I was out with my second set, the track was dirty after Nicolas Kiesa’s off. Therefore I was not able to improve.”

Frank Stippler – 16th fastest:
“On Friday we lost a whole day because the tyres were picking up too much rubber from other cars. So, actually, our testing work didn’t start until Saturday. This meant that we’d been off to a late start with our entire programme and that had an effect on the qualifying. Now we need to give our best in the race.”

Jean Alesi – 17th fastest:
“Unfortunately, the left front shock absorber failed and therefore I had no chance to drive faster.”

Nicolas Kiesa – 18th fastest:
“We didn’t achieve the best time we could have today. Too bad that I had the misfortune of three cars leaving the pit lane in front of me while I was out on the second set of tyres. I managed to overtake two of them but for the third car, I had to leave the racing line and that cost me time in front of the chicane. My tyres picked up dirt, locked, and I had to stop my lap.”

Vanina Ickx – 19th fastest:
“Today I’ve got reason to celebrate because I didn’t finish in the last position! Considering the gap when we started on Friday, we’re now pretty close to the guys in front of us. We’re not lacking a lot. We improved by three seconds overnight. That’s great!”

Susie Stoddart – 20th place:
“I am very disappointed. During both of my runs there were a lot of cars on the track, and I could not go any faster”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“Congratulations to Jamie Green – today he proved once again that he is this year’s ‘pole man’. In the second part of qualifying, he posted the fastest lap of the day with a 1:32.038; I did not think this time would be possible. Starting fifth and seventh respectively, it will be difficult for Bruno Spengler and Bernd Schneider to break through the strong Audi phalanx tomorrow – difficult, but not impossible. Mika missed the top-eight by 30 thousandths of a second; but with a good start he will be able to move up. With eight thousandths, the gap for Alexandros Margaritis was even smaller. Mathias Lauda did a good job with the 2004 C-Class; he left all other three 2004 cars and four 2005 cars behind him.”

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport:
“We showed a very strong team performance which we can be proud of. Unfortunately, Tom (Kristensen) was obstructed on his quickest lap, which caused him to lose time in the first turn. That was totally unnecessary because Bruno Spengler went out on new tyres at a time when it was completely clear that he wouldn’t be able to complete a whole lap.”