Dtm opener: audi driver scheider in first place on the grid
In the qualifying duel at the hockenheimring, two-time champion timo scheider secured the first pole position of the DTM season.
The audi driver took 1:35.918 minutes to complete the 4.574 kilometers in difficult conditions on saturday, beating augusto farfus in the BMW by 0.116 seconds into second place. "Being out at the right time today, that was the secret today," said scheider. "With the conditions today, the risk of doing something wrong was great."Third place went to mercedes driver christian vietoris ahead of his teammate robert wickens.
At the beginning of the qualification it was still raining. When it had stopped, the road became drier and drier. Defending champion bruno spengler (BMW) and last year’s runner-up gary paffett (mercedes) couldn’t find the right timing in the third section and were left stranded. Paffett was sixth, spengler starts one place behind. "The others had the better timing, that’s a bit frustrating," paffett said on ARD. Spengler remained optimistic: "from P7 with the new format, you can already have a little bit of hope."
Spengler was alluding to the second tire compound and the folding wings familiar from formula 1, which were not allowed to be used in qualifying but are supposed to facilitate overtaking maneuvers in the race. The setup of the vehicles was then also allowed to play an important role, as nothing more may be changed after the starting grid has been allocated. Before qualifying, the engineers therefore already had to take into account the probably dry weather conditions on sunday (13.30 o’clock/ARD) take into consideration.
As the best rookie, the youngest driver in the field at 18, pascal wehrlein, will then be allowed to start from position eight. With best time in section two, he hinted at his rough potential. "There could have been more," said the mercedes driver. Another newcomer to the german touring car masters, ex-formula 1 driver timo glock, was not entirely satisfied with his result either. "It’s a pity, we had small mistakes in there somewhere, which we now have to understand," said the BMW newcomer after place 15.
