DTM

Adria: Mercedes Benz qualifying report

Gary Paffett one hundredth ahead of Bruno Spengler First Row for the C-Class Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) will start Sunday's 10th round of the 2010 DTM at Adria, Italy -- the penultimate race of the season -- from pole ...

Published: Oct 31, 2010, 9:34 PM

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Gary Paffett one hundredth ahead of Bruno Spengler

First Row for the C-Class

Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) will start Sunday's 10th round of the 2010 DTM at Adria, Italy -- the penultimate race of the season -- from pole position. Starting as first of four drivers into the exciting single-lap qualifying, Gary set a time of 1m10.471 which none of the following three drivers was able to improve on. It is Gary's second pole of the year and the eighth of his DTM career.

Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) was second fastest on a 1m10.481, one hundredth of a second behind Gary. That was the fifth double pole for Mercedes-Benz in the 10th race of the season. Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) posted a 1m10.309 and will start sixth, whilst Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) was fourth with a 1m10.700.

That means, that the three Mercedes-Benz drivers who are the only remaining title contenders, will start the race in reverse order: Paul leads the ranking with 63 points ahead of Bruno with 60 and Gary with 49 points.

Qualifying, part 1: Paul Di Resta set the fastest lap with a 1m10.338. David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) was 16th (1m11.082) one thousandth of a second ahead of CongFu Cheng (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class/1m11.083).

Qualifying, part 2: This time, Jamie Green was fastest with a 1m09.898; the fastest lap of the weekend so far. Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) ended up 12th with a 1m10.666 ahead of Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class/1m10.903) and Ralf Schumacher (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class/1m10.975).

Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) pole position (1m10.471): "I felt comfortable already yesterday and was able to improve a little bit again and again. I thank everybody in our team for the great job. I will give it my all tomorrow, to be up front also at the end and to reduce the gap behind Paul in the overall ranking. My target is to keep my title chances alive."

Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) (1m10.481): „At the end of my final lap I made a mistake under braking; however, I stayed on the line and I don't think it cost me much time. I am happy with second place on the grid. I was in the single-lap qualifying a couple of times this year, but I never was on pole. Instead, I won twice and I hope I can repeat this tomorrow."

Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) fourth (1m10.700): "I am very happy with my performance. Unfortunately, I suffered from oversteer in the single-lap qualifying, therefore my lap was not perfect; otherwise, pole position would have been possible. But I am confident for the race -- the podium is in reach."

Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) sixth (1m10.309): „I struggled throughout the weekend to get the maximum out of my car and in the end I lacked about a tenth of a second to make it to the single-lap qualifying. We will now work on our race strategy so that I will be able to move up tomorrow."

Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) 12th (1m10.666): "My rear tyres didn't work as expected; therefore, I could not drive faster. For tomorrow I hope for rain, then I would have a chance to score points."

Susie Stoddart (TV-Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) 13th (1m10.903): "Q2 was my target and that's what I achieved. But my time should be better. Unfortunately, the track was pretty dirty and I was sliding a lot; therefore, I could not drive faster. It's nice that I am now in Q2 regularly, but my target for the final race 2010 at Shanghai and for 2011 will be to improve my lap times."

Ralf Schumacher (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class) 14th (1m10.975): "This morning I was fifth less than a tenth behind the leader, but in qualifying I was not able to repeat this. I lacked grip, but I didn't have any other problems. I don't blame it on the car."

David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) 16th (1m11.082): "I am disappointed. Yesterday, when I drove here for the first time, I was third. Today, with new tyres I was sliding all the way and was not able to move up. It's a shame."

CongFu Cheng (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) 17th (1m11.083): "I had expected a better result and I am therefore not happy with 17th place. I still have to learn a lot, but I think a better position will be possible tomorrow."

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "Great -- a double pole by Gary and Bruno and first and second places separated only by one hundredth -- a closer result is almost not possible -- and the championship remains a thriller which cannot be more exciting. Jamie in fourth place was very strong and the fastest of the day in Q2 when he was under 1m10 -- it's incredible what he and his Persson team achieve with the 2008 car. The forecast for tomorrow is heavy rain, and then the positions on the front row are even more important than in the dry. Our fifth double pole 2010 in the 10th race -- thank you to everybody in our teams who work so hard to make this performance happen."

-source: mercedes-benz

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