DTM, 19th May 2007: round 3, Lausitzring, qualifying

Second Pole for Spengler, third Pole for the new C-Class

Bruno Spengler (DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes C-Class) will start Sunday?s third round of the 2007 DTM at the Lausitzring from pole position. In the qualifying„s thrilling third part, the Canadian set a time of 1min18.408sec, which was the fastest lap of the weekend so far. It is the fourth DTM pole for Spengler and his second of the year after Hockenheim four weeks ago. The race version of the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class is on pole the third time in the third race of the season.

Mika Häkkinen (AMG Mercedes C-Class), polesitter for the previous race in Oschersleben two weeks ago, will start second on the grid; with his time of 1min18.521sec he was 0.113sec behind Spengler. Paul di Resta (JAWA4U.de AMG Mercedes) qualified the 2005 C-Class third after setting a time of 1min18.660sec; the Scotsman leads the championship together with Audi drivers Mattias Ekström and Martin Tomczyk, all on 12 points.

Bernd Schneider (Genuine Parts AMG Mercedes C-Class) was fourth with 1min18.730sec ahead of Jamie Green (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class/1min18.985sec). Alexandros Margaritis (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) qualified seventh with 1min19.263sec followed by Daniel la Rosa (TrekStor AMG Mercedes C-Class/1min19.370sec); both at the wheels of 2006 C-Class cars.

Qualifying, part 1: Bernd Schneider was the first driver this weekend to remain under the 1min19 mark and was fastest with 1min18.909sec. He was followed by the C-Class cars of Jamie Green (1min19.177sec), Daniel la Rosa (1min19.286sec), Mika Häkkinen (1min19.329) and Paul di Resta (1min19.330sec) in positions two to five respectively. Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) was 17th with 1min19.903sec and missed the next round of qualifying by less than two tenths of a second.

Qualifying, part 2: Paul di Resta improved Schneider?s time by almost four tenths of a second and was fastest with 1min18.530sec. Green (1min18.916sec), Spengler (1min18.967sec), Schneider (1min18.984sec) and Häkkinen (1min18.997sec) were second to fifth respectively. Oschersleben winner Gary Paffett (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class) was 13th with 1min19.553sec and missed the final round by 0.266sec. Mathias Lauda (Trilux AMG Mercedes C-Class) was 14th with 1min19.701sec.

Bruno Spengler (2007 DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min18.408sec (pole position): “I am very happy to be on pole position for the second time this year after Hockenheim. My C-Class ran perfectly throughout the weekend and I thank my team for their fantastic job. Tomorrow I will focus on a good start and to make no mistakes during the race – then victory should be possible.”

Mika Häkkinen (2007 AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min18.521sec (second): “Second on the grid is not bad; however, first would be better. Anyway, we achieved a great result for Mercedes with five C-Class cars on the top-five positions. My target for tomorrow is a good start, and then we will wait and C what happens.”

Paul di Resta (2005 JAWA4U.de AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min18.660sec (third): “I?m happy about my third position on the grid. We will modify a few things on the car until tomorrow and then everything is possible.”

Bernd Schneider (2007 Genuine Parts AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min18.730sec (fourth): “Quite a good qualifying; however, a better result was possible for me, but I was not able to get the best out of my second set of tyres. To start from the second row is not a bad basis for tomorrow?s race “

Jamie Green (2007 Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min18.985sec (fifth): “I?m a bit disappointed, because in both the first two parts of qualifying I came home second. However, on my fastest lap I had a short off; otherwise I would be further up the grid. Tomorrow I will fight – a podium finish is possible.”

Alexandros Margaritis (2006 stern AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min19.263sec (seventh): “All in all a good qualifying. The car ran well and our team did again a great job. Tomorrow I want to score as many points as possible.”

Daniel la Rosa (2006 TrekStor AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min19.370sec (eighth): “I?m happy to have qualified among the top-eight. Unfortunately, I slid into the gravel with fading tyres on my final run; without that a better result might have been possible.” Gary Paffett (2006 Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min19.553sec (13th): “Two weeks after my race win in Oschersleben, 13th on the grid is quite disappointing. We don?t know yet what the reason is, I didn?t make any major mistakes. Tomorrow it will be difficult to improve, but I will fight for every position and every point.”

Mathias Lauda (2006 Trilux AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min19.701sec (14th): “On my fastest lap I improved by three tenths of a second at the middle sector; however, at the end of the lap I lost this advantage. We have to analyse what the reason was.” Susie Stoddart (2005 TV-Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min19.903sec (17th): “The car was great, my team did a good job and I didn?t make any big mistakes. However, the DTM is so competitive that I lacked two tenths of a second to proceed to the next round. Tomorrow I will give it my all to move up the field.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “Congratulations to Bruno on his second pole of the year and to the HWA team headed by Gerhard Ungar and Hans-Jürgen Mattheis on the third pole in the third race for the new C-Class. All four 2007 C-Class cars among the top-five, the 2005 C-Class of Paul di Resta in third place and the 2006 cars of Alexandros Margaritis and Daniel la Rosa in seventh and eighth positions is a very good team performance of all Mercedes-Benz teams – a formation with scarcity value in the DTM. Paul di Resta?s third place in the 2005 car is remarkable. It is obvious, that the 2007 Audis had a weight handicap here; however, our gap in the second part of qualifying shows that the new C-Class, even with the additional weight adjusted, is here at least as competitive as in Hockenheim and Oschersleben and this is what we want to demonstrate tomorrow.“