ETCC: Hockenheimring: Saturday qualifying quotes

Jordi GENE - SEAT Sport, pole position
"I am definitely very proud and very happy to be on pole. I think it's proof that we have been working very well. We were unlucky in Magny-Cours, because I think we deserved to finish on the podium there, but we then had a problem. So maybe here we can prove that we are competitive. We just have to wait and see what we'll come away with here. I have had problems in each qualifying session so far -- in Monza, Valencia, Magny-Cours -- so I decided with my engineer to use a set of new tyres in the second practice, just to make sure that everything was okay. Definitely, the car was fantastic! I was looking to be somewhere in the top five, but I didn't expect pole position!"

Jaime PUIG -- SEAT Sport director
"We were really looking for this pole position. Our progression has been fantastic; we were fifth in Valencia, third in Magny-Cours and first here. Now what we need is to finish the races in good positions. Obviously we would like to win, and we will try very hard, but we know that even starting from pole position may not be enough. The BMW cars can start better than ours, then we have to stay behind them, not losing contact and fight with them. But I have to say that just finishing the races in a nice position would make us very happy."

Antonio GARCÍA -- BMW Team Italy-Spain, 2nd
"I didn't realize that this would get me into the front row when I saw the lap times, because we had a lot of bad luck this morning. In my first set of tyres, I had three new ones and one that was already used; and I didn't know how that affected the balance of the car. The second set was all new ones, and the car was really good. When I saw the lap time, I knew we would be really competitive. The most important thing tomorrow will be the start, I hope I can do a good one, then I will try to do the same as in qualifying, just close my eyes and go ahead. We'll see what happens."

Andy PRIAULX -- BMW Team Great Britain, 3rd
"Today I was fast at all the wrong times. Jordi [Gene] and Antonio [Garcia] did a really good job. I tried to have a go at beating them, but it proved to be impossible. The problem with this circuit is knowing where the limit is. If you don't explore it then for sure, you won't be quick. There's a grey area, and it's going to be very difficult to control. I was pushing really hard straight away. I'm happy with the job, and hopefully, we can make up a couple of good places during the races!"

Fabrizio GIOVANARDI -- AutoDelta Squadra Corse, 4th
"I think this was a good result: fourth on the grid, less than two tenths from the pole, first of the Alfas, especially because we are still working on the set-up. I'm sure we can still find something to improve. I saw that we all have the same problem here, we do a very good lap, then we are getting in trouble with the handling. This is a track where it is so easy to make a mistake, and where the tyres will be suffering during the races. The gaps are so close that it's easy to predict a couple of much fought races."

Frank DIEFENBACHER -- SEAT Sport, 5th
"I'm very happy that Jordi is on pole and I'm fifth. We did a good job. I could have been on pole myself, but I wasn't as fast as him. It's a great result for the team, which is going to boost the morale and the motivation. It's good to be that competitive in qualifying, and now we hope to do well in the races."

Dirk MÜLLER -- BMW Team Deutschland, 6th
"I am quite happy, because I have 30 kg of handicap weight, and I have done absolutely the maximum I could have done in this conditions. Obviously if you look at the gaps, I'm a bit disappointed, because when you are only three tenths from the pole, you know that maybe with a small effort you could have been better placed on the grid. However, my best lap was really perfect, and we have a very good car on both new and used tyres. Then I'm quite confident for the races."

Jorg MÜLLER -- BMW Team Deutschland, 10th
"With the 40 extra kilos in the car, we did not really expect more than this. I just used two sets of tyres today, so I'm not unhappy. The tenth position is not very nice, but I am only six tenths from the pole, which is good with the ballast. We'll see the races tomorrow, they will be very tight!"

Luca RANGONI -- Oregon Team, 11th
"We did a very good job. The team has placed myself, Michele (Bartyan) and Salvatore (Tavano) in the top three positions of the Independents Trophy, all of us within only one tenth of a second. It was a great result. We know that the races will be very tough tomorrow, because this is a very stressful circuit for tyres. Tomorrow morning in the warm-up we will try to find a good set-up to reduce understeer."

Jan MAGNUSSEN -- Peugeot Sport Engineering, 19th
"The times were really close today. We are not too far away from the front-runners, as 1.5 seconds from the pole on our third ETCC meeting is acceptable. However the position is not really satisfying for us. We are working very hard to improve, and we know that an half-a-second improvement would mean several positions, moving us up to the middle of the field. But for now we have to focus on tomorrow, and I hope that our car will confirm that it is more competitive in the races than in qualifying."

Roland ASCH -- RS-Line Rotpukt Sport, 21st
"We were aiming for a 1.5 second gap from the pole. Today we are 1.9 behind, which is not so bad. The car is nice to drive in the Motodrom, but on the straight we still do not have enough speed. And this championship is so competitive that I find myself in 21st position, despite the gap is not enormous. Anyway, tomorrow I want to do my best. I'm seriously considering the idea to bring my racing career to a close, and I would like to do it on a high note. Though the team and my fans are still pushing me to carry on."

-fia/etcc-