Haug: “This is a proper showdown”

Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice President Norbert Haug praised the spectacular DTM qualifying at Oschersleben and predicts more of it in the race.

“Second place for Gary and third position for Jamie constitute a good platform for us. Championship leader Paffett was just 0.086 seconds off securing pole, which shows just how tight racing is in the DTM. Previously, in Q2, 0.019 seconds covered the four cars in the drop zone, from P10 to P13 – it just does not get any closer. In the third-to-last race tomorrow, the top three in the championship are in grid positions one, two and three – a proper showdown, the likes of which you can only dream about.”

Although Mercedes missed out on pole position, title contenders Gary Paffett and Jamie Green will start from second and third respectively in today’s race. The championship leader, who celebrates his 90th DTM race in Oschersleben, will share the front row with Bruno Spengler, but didn’t look too disappointed with it.
“That was a superb, exciting qualifying, and after a tough race weekend at Zandvoort, I’m very pleased to be on the front row tomorrow in my 90th DTM race. Many thanks to the team – the guys did a great job with the setup and preparation of my THOMAS SABO Mercedes AMG C-Coupé.”

The Brit is excited and optimistic ahead of the race.
“I missed pole position by barely a tenth of a second. We have a very fast car, and I am highly motivated and will do everything tomorrow to secure my third win in Oschersleben and extend my lead in the championship.“

Jamie Green lamented being unable to do the perfect lap in Q4, which prevented him from getting a better performance.
“We had a hard-fought qualifying session today. My lap times in Q2 and Q3 were very good, but unfortunately, I was unable to post a perfect lap in the final part of qualifying. The track in Oschersleben is very demanding on cars, but our Mercedes AMG C-Coupé is absolutely brilliant here. With grid positions two and three, Gary and I have an excellent platform for tomorrow’s race.“

Ralf Schumacher had every reason to be disappointed as the German clocked exactly the same laptime as Mike Rockenfeller, but failed to progress to Q3 for finishing the lap a little later than the Audi driver.
“I posted the same lap time as Mike Rockenfeller in the second part of qualifying, but unfortunately he secured his time a little before me and so he progressed into Q3. That’s obviously maddening for me, but tomorrow’s race is long and all is not lost from tenth position on the grid and there’s still plenty to play for.“