Pascal Wehrlein books grid position seven in Zandvoort
Qualifying in penultimate race of the season
Photo by: XPB Images
The DTM is guesting at the Circuit Park Zandvoort this weekend for the penultimate race of the 2014 season. Winner of the previous DTM race at the Lausitzring Pascal Wehrlein (gooix Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) posted a 1:31.063 minutes to finish the qualifying at the dune circuit in the Netherlands in seventh position.
Gary Paffett (EURONICS Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) posted a time of 1:30.965 minutes to qualify eleventh on the grid. Paul Di Resta (DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé / 1:31.005 minutes) will be in grid position 13 in the penultimate DTM race in Zandvoort. Christian Vietoris (Original-Teile Mercedes AMG C-Coupé / 1:31.504 minutes) finished qualifying in P18.
We just couldn’t get it together in Q3, but seventh on the grid isn’t too bad.
Pascal Wehrlein
Robert Wickens (FREE MAN'S WORLD Mercedes AMG C-Coupé / 1:31.673 minutes), Daniel Juncadella (Petronas Mercedes AMG C-Coupé / 1:31.784 minutes) and Vitaly Petrov (DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé / 1:33.002 minutes) booked grid positions 21 to 23 respectively.
Looking ahead to the race: The ninth round of the 2014 DTM season gets under way on Sunday at 13:30 (live on ARD, from 13:15 onwards). The race is staged over 44 laps, equating to a total distance of 189.508 km.
Comments after Qualifying
Pascal Wehrlein (19, Germany, gooix Mercedes AMG C-Coupé): „The result is a bit disappointing. We had some problems in free practice, so I was rather surprised that I was so fast in Q1 and Q2. We just couldn’t get it together in Q3, but seventh on the grid isn’t too bad when you consider where we were in free practice this morning. After Q2, I had naturally set my sights higher, but I was having difficulty with the tyres in the final sector. We’ll have to find the reason.“
Gary Paffett (33, England, EURONICS Mercedes AMG C-Coupé): “I’m slightly disappointed, but in general, I’m feeling happier than in recent races. We are better than we had expected. The car was really hard to drive this morning in practice, but the team did a great job before qualifying. The C-Coupé was nice to drive and predictable, which it wasn’t this morning, but I made a few small mistakes. The gaps are so very close. One tenth quicker and I’d have been in Q3. So I’m not displeased, but we want more.”
Paul Di Resta (28, Scotland, DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé): “We had a lot of speed in the car. Unfortunately, we struggled when the track began to improve. Things were very good up until then. We should have been much further up the grid. I’m confident that with our race strategy we should be able to do more tomorrow.”
Christian Vietoris (25, Germany, Original-Teile Mercedes AMG C-Coupé): “I was having problems with the steering for the whole of qualifying. It had nothing to do with the fact that it’s a new car. The servo seems to have packed up, and that strongly affected my runs. Consequently, I wasn’t able to post a proper lap in qualifying. That was a real shame.”
Robert Wickens (25, Canada, FREE MAN’S WORLD Mercedes AMG C-Coupé): “I don’t know what happened. Everything felt the same as in free practice and I was competitive. I was really happy with my lap, but that’s meaningless in the end when you qualify 21st.”
Daniel Juncadella (23, Spain, Petronas Mercedes AMG C-Coupé): “We’ve been having one or two problems this weekend, unfortunately. The balance wasn’t right, and I don’t know why. This will be a tough race. I hope tomorrow goes better. It’s a pity, because I really like this circuit.”
Vitaly Petrov (29, Russia, DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé): “It was a disappointing day for us. Unfortunately, I made a mistake, drove too fast in Turn 2 and lost the rear. I’m sorry for the team. They’ve worked really hard to get my car ready for qualifying, but more wasn’t possible since I’m not familiar with this track. It was just important for us to go out, check the car and make sure that everything was OK for the race. I’m learning more about the car and the various circuits with every race weekend.”
Wolfgang Schattling, Head of Motorsport Marketing & Communications: “It was not a perfect qualifying. Pascal could have achieved much more than seventh position on the grid today. There may have been a technical problem with a wheel nut. He would have been in pole position with his time from Q2. Unfortunately, it did not work out. Now we have to analyse what exactly hindered Pascal. He is really fast and we can expect a lot more from him. The Zandvoort track has not always well suited us. It demands a lot of downforce and is really hard on tyres. But let's wait and see how the race develops.”
Mercedes AMG
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