Ekström prepares for a hot Sunday’s work

Mattias Ekström believes tyres will be the key to whether he can convert his pole position to race victory in Valencia on Sunday. Speaking to the official DTM website after qualifying, Ekström said, “I am really happy. I am feeling very well in the car, even though it is very hot. For the race, we have to keep our fingers crossed that the tyres will make it through the distance.”

“It’s a nice feeling to be on the pole position”, continued the Swede. “It’s also a sort of reward for the mechanics and the team after such a good performance on their part. The driver can only deliver what’s in the car. Now we’ve got to prepare for the race with even more vigorous work. We’ve got to solve all the problems and drive a flawless race.”

Ominously for Ekström, teammate and reigning DTM Champion Timo Scheider experienced tyre problems in qualifying and Martin Tomcyzk also admitted to problems with grip, saying, “We slightly misjudged the grip conditions on the track. The track changed a lot over the weekend. We didn’t reach the maximum because the track had more potential.”

Languishing down in tenth place on the grid, one behind Tomcyzk, Scheider was upset with the way qualifying worked out.

“This was extremely disappointing for me”, said Scheider. “After our tests on this circuit I had a clearly better feeling. But I’ve got a huge problem with the tires. We simply can’t achieve good balance. That seems to be the problem. Tenth place is another catastrophic result. We’re simply lacking performance at the moment.”

Grip problems weren’t solely the preserve of the Audi’s though in a swelteringly hot qualifying session at the Ricardo Tormo circuit outside Valencia. Briton Gary Paffett lines up fourth for Sunday’s race, but despite this still felt he could have done better.

“I am disappointed”, said the Mercedes driver to the DTM website. “In the single-lap qualifying, I struggled with significant oversteer and the track conditions had changed, so I also suffered from grip problems. It will be a tough race tomorrow, but also from the second row everything is possible for me – even victory.”

A more likely candidate for victory is teammate Bruno Spengler. The Canadian lost out to Ekström by just 0.016.

“It’s a shame that I missed pole by such a small margin. My last lap was very good and I didn’t make any mistakes. Mattias was just a tiny little bit faster, but tomorrow I will try to turn the tables. Our team did a great job and I want to thank everybody.

“Tomorrow, it will be very difficult in the heat and fitness will play an important role”,

Oliver Jarvis also believes he has what it takes to win on the DTM’s first visit to the Valencian circuit. The 26-year-old lines up third, having topped the time sheets in Friday’s practice session.

“That was an exciting qualifying! The first segment was great,” said Jarvis. “I went into the second qualifying, which went very well, too, full of self-confidence. In Q3 I made a huge mistake. With a lot of luck I still made it into Q4 but had to start as the first car. That was a slight disadvantage.

“After my problems in Q3 I tackled this session a bit too coolly. I was only lacking two and a half tenths to pole. It’s nice to be so far at the front, to be able to compete for a podium and maybe to even have a chance of winning.”

Away from the battle for pole, attention was focused on the performance of Spanish driver Miguel Molina.

“That was a good qualifying,” said the Spaniard. “In my first race I made it into the second qualifying and on my second weekend even into Q3. I keep moving forward but I’ve got some more learning to do. We can still improve. Nevertheless, I’m happy with grid position seven.”

Despite the top ten having a predominantly Audi feel about it, Norbert Haug, Vice-President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport believes a good result is still possible.

“A really thrilling qualifying at the first DTM venue in Valencia,” said Haug. “Two C-Classes on the first two rows – and three among the top five – this is a good result for us. The gap between Bruno Spengler and pole shows how close the competition in DTM is.

“After a lap of 4,005 metres Bruno was placed 71.52 centimetres behind Ekström’s Audi – which is 16 thousandths of a second on the clock. Paul Di Resta missed the top four by four hundredths of a second, but with three C-Classes on the first three rows we have a good basis for tomorrow’s race.”

Haug’s Audi counterpart Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich though is himself confident, particularly as his cars have led the way in every session so far.

“Whenever the situation gets really tight, Mattias (Ekström) keeps being the one who makes the crucial difference: a great showing by him and the whole team.

“Now we’ll try and convert the good qualifying result into a corresponding race result and to turn the tables here after the disappointment at Hockenheim.”