DTM, 5th May 2007: round 2, Oschersleben, qualifying

Pole for Mika Häkkinen in the new C-Class

Mika Häkkinen at the wheel of the new AMG Mercedes C-Class will start Sunday’s second round of the 2007 DTM in Oschersleben from the top spot on the grid (1min22.456sec, fastest time of all practice sessions). On the occasion of AMG’s 40th anniversary, it was Mika’s second pole after Spa-Francorchamps almost two years ago, and the second for the race version of the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class. On the new car’s racing premiere at Hockenheim two weeks ago, Bruno Spengler (DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes C-Class) had been the fastest qualifier. In the third part of today’s qualifying, the Canadian posted a time of 1min22.625sec and is third on the grid. Jamie Green (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) qualified fifth with 1min22.791sec; Gary Paffett (Laureus AMG Mercedes) ended up eighth with 1min23.134sec at the wheel of the 2006 C-Class. In the second part of qualifying, Bernd Schneider (Genuine Parts AMG Mercedes C-Class) ended up tenth after he was held up by another car and lost two tenths of a second.

Qualifying, part 1: Schneider was the fastest AMG Mercedes C-Class driver and posted the second best lap with 1min22.705sec, 96 thousandths of a second behind Timo Scheider (Audi A4 DTM). Daniel la Rosa (TrekStor AMG Mercedes C-Class) was 15th with 1min23.386sec and missed the second round by exactly one tenth of a second. Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) qualified 19th with a 1min23.897sec.

Qualifying, part 2: This time, Mika Häkkinen was the fastest Mercedes driver and ended up second with 1min22.639sec behind Scheider (1min22.551sec). Bruno Spengler came home third only eight thousandths of a second behind Mika. Bernd Schneider suffered from a tight power steering and qualified tenth with 1min22.909sec; he missed the last part of qualifying by 55 thousandths of a second. He was followed by Paul di Resta (JAWA4U.de AMG Mercedes C-Class/1min23.152sec), Mathias Lauda (Trilux AMG Mercedes C-Class/1min23.296sec) and Alexandros Margaritis (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class/1min23.338sec) in positions 11 to 13.

Mika Häkkinen (AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min22.456sec (Pole Position): “It’s great to be back on pole position here two years after Spa. The entire team had worked really hard throughout the winter to achieve this result. I thank everybody for their tireless efforts. Tomorrow I want to win, which would be a great reward for my team.” Bruno Spengler (DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min22.625sec (third): “After such a hard fought qualifying I am satisfied with third place on the grid, which is a good basis for tomorrow’s race, because at this track overtaking is really difficult. The first corner can be crucial for the outcome of the race; therefore a good grid position is even more important. Congratulations to Mika, he was unbeatable today.”


Jamie Green (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min22.791sec (fifth): “I am quite happy; however, as you could see the new AMG Mercedes C-Class had the potential for a better grid position. Unfortunately I made some small mistakes, which prevented a better result. Tomorrow I want to finish on the podium.”

Gary Paffett (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min23.134sec (eighth): “Until the final lap I had a reasonable qualifying, but then I made a mistake under braking and lost a lot of time. Without this mistake I would probably have a better grid position.”

Bernd Schneider (Genuine Parts AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min22.909sec (10th): “In the second part of qualifying I suffered from a tight power steering and also got stuck in traffic, therefore I lost probably more than the half a tenth of a second which I needed to reach the top-eight. It’s a shame, because my time in the first session showed that I was capable of running at the front. With a good start tomorrow I should be able to improve significantly.”

Paul di Resta (JAWA4U.de AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min23.152sec (11th): “The car’s balance could have been better today. After my good DTM debut two weeks ago I had expected a better result.”

Mathias Lauda (Trilux AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min23.296sec (12th): “After finishing only 13th in Hockenheim’s race two weeks ago, I am happy with my 12th place on the grid, particularly after a not so good Free Practice this morning. However, my team prepared the car really well for qualifying and I want to thank them for their efforts.”

Alexandros Margaritis (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min23.338sec (13th): “Right now I don’t know yet why I couldn’t qualify better. We will analyse the data and improve the car until tomorrow. I want to fight for points.”

Daniel la Rosa (TrekStor AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min23.386sec (15th): “After finishing third in the season opener in Hockenheim two weeks ago, I am disappointed that my qualifying was over already after the first session. However, we didn’t manage to find the optimum set-up, but this is crucial when the field is so close together.”

Susie Stoddart (TV-Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class), 1min23.897sec (19th): “I am disappointed that I was not able to qualify better, but after my results in yesterday’s tests and this morning’s free practice, I had expected a result like this.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “An extremely thrilling qualifying. I am really happy for Mika Häkkinen who performed excellently on a track, which up to now has not been ideal for us. Congratulations on his pole. Bruno Spengler’s and Jamie Green’s grid positions three and five are a good basis for tomorrow’s race. With another five C-Class cars – a total of eight out of our ten cars – the HWA team headed by Gerhard Ungar and Hans-Jürgen Mattheis as well as the teams Persson and Mücke did a solid job. I thank everybody for their focussed efforts. It’s a pity for Bernd Schneider who got stuck in traffic on his fast lap and therefore missed the top-eight by 55 thousandths of a second. Mike Rockenfeller who qualified second in only his second DTM race with a last year’s Audi only 74 thousandths behind Mika deserves a great compliment. It will be an exciting race tomorrow – guaranteed.”