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Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) will start tomorrow’s race at the Norisring from pole position. The Canadian drove a lap of 48.222s in the final shoot-out segment of qualifying. It is his eleventh DTM pole and his third on the Nuremburg street circuit. It also represents the 109th pole position overall for Mercedes-Benz in the series and the 13th at this circuit. The fifth race of the 2011 DTM season will be shown live from 12.45pm CET on ARD. After the qualifyings, five Mercedes-Benz drivers are situated in the top six positions on the grid.
Gary Paffett (THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Class /44.418s) qualified in P2 and will start from the front row at the home race for sponsor THOMAS SABO. Jamie Green (AMG Mercedes C-Class/44.532s) will start from third place behind Spengler and Gary Paffett.
Rain began to fall at the Norisring towards the end of the third segment of qualfiying. Ralf Schumacher (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class/48.124s) and Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class/48.189s) were therefore unable to better their respective grid positions of P5 and P6.
Qualifying 1: Bruno Spengler set the fastest time – 48.180s – in the first qualifying segment. Maro Engel and Ralf Schumacher finished in P2 and P3. Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class /48.552s) finished the session in 15th position. The gap between P1 and P15 was just 0.372 seconds.
Qualifying 2: Gary Paffett was second fastest with a time of 48.195s and was the best-placed C-Class driver. Christian Vietoris (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class/48.415 seconds), David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class/48.527 seconds) and Renger van der Zande (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class/48.575 seconds) finished P12, 13 and 14.
Comments on qualifying:
Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) - pole position (48.222):
“I’m very happy with my performance today. The lap times on this circuit are incredibly close, and it’s really important to start from pole here. I was already into a good rhythm during free practice, and if we can show the same pace in the race, I’m in with a very good chance of claiming my third win at the Norisring.”
Gary Paffett (THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Cass) - second (48.418):
“Of course, I would prefer to be on pole, but second place is a very good result. My times were improving all the way through qualifying and my THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Class performed very well. I like the track and hope to have a good race.”
Jamie Green (AMG Mercedes C-Class) - third (48.532):
“Things weren’t quite perfect in the practice session this morning, but my car performed very well in qualifying itself – a big thank you to the entire team. I’m pleased with my third place. As for the race, I expect to be in with a good chance of securing what would be my fourth victory in a row at the Norisring.”
Ralf Schumacher (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) - fifth (48.124):
“It was very close in qualifying. It’s a pity that I didn’t make it into the top four, but we had a difficult day on Friday and I had very little track time, so I’m glad that today went so well. It could have been much worse. We still have a good chance starting from fifth position.”
Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) - sixth (48.189):
“Sixth is a great result. The team did a fantastic job and my C-Class was working really well. For a while there, I thought I might make it through to the fourth segment, but then the other drivers stepped up a gear. Qualifying was a lot of fun and I’m now looking forward to the race.”
Christian Vietoris (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) - twelvth (48.415):
“Unfortunately, it didn’t go quite right today. I lost a tenth on my fastest lap and that makes a big difference around this track. Twelfth position is not what we had hoped for, but our speed is good and we are consistently fast – we’ll just have to wait and see what we can do in the race.”
Renger van der Zande (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) - 13th (48.527):
“Obviously I’m not satisfied with P14. The first qualifying session wasn’t too bad, but in the second, I didn’t manage to complete a clean lap which would have been good enough to get me into the top six. It may rain in the race tomorrow, which could work in my favour.”
David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) - 14th (48.575):
“I’m not best pleased with my result. We’ve had problems with the car’s balance the whole weekend. That put us at a major disadvantage, because you have to brake very late on this track. Consequently, I'm fairly well down the field on the grid.”
Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) - 15th (48.552):
“Qualifying was a bit of a disappointment for me. It was again a very, very close-run affair, just like at the Lausitzring. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it through to Q2, which is a pity, but I was off the pace today.”
Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“It was an absolute dream session: three C-Classes in the top three grid positions, and moreover, five out of the front six. It was a super lap from Bruno to take pole position. We really couldn’t ask for more – today was an A grade with distinction. My thanks to all of our teams, who have done a marvellous job here at the Norisring.”
Source: Daimler AG
Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Lausitzring, Germany, Jun 19, 2011
• Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) finished in third place to secure his third podium of the season at the fourth DTM race at the Lausitzring
• Spengler is now second in the championship, one point behind behind new leader Martin Tomczyk (Audi).
• Five Mercedes-Benz drivers in the Top Ten
Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) was the top-placed Mercedes-Benz driver in third position at the fourth race of the season, held at the Lausitzring circuit. After securing victory at the season opener at Hockenheim and second place in Zandvoort, it’s the third podium of the season for the Canadian driver.
Five AMG Mercedes C-Class drivers finished in the Top Ten: After 52 laps, Gary Paffett (THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Class) came home in fourth place behind Spengler. Jamie Green (AMG Mercedes C-Class), Christian Vietoris (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) and Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) finished in positions six, nine and ten. DTM rookie Vietoris’ ninth place was his best ever DTM result.
Ralf Schumacher (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) improved on his starting position of 17th to finish twelfth. David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) and Renger van der Zande (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) came 13th and 14th respectively. Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) was unable to start because of a technical problem.
Across the race weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), a total of 63,000 spectators visited the Lausitzring circuit to watch the DTM race.
Race summary
The start: Bruno Spengler is on pole for the tenth time in his DTM career, and defends his lead. Jamie Green runs in second place, Gary Paffett moves up one place and ends the first lap in fourth. Maro Engel moves up four places to P12. Susie Stoddart had technical problems before the start and is not competing.
Lap 2: Martin Tomczyk (Audi) overtakes Green in the battle for second place. Spengler maintains his lead of 2.4 seconds.
Lap 8: Three Mercedes-Benz drivers in the top 4: Spengler still leads from Tomczyk, with Green and Gary Paffett behind them in P3 and P4.
Lap 10: David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher move up after overtaking Edoardo Mortara (Audi) and go into P13 and P14 respectively.
Lap 13: The pit stop window is open and Paffett is the first Mercedes-Benz driver to come into the pit lane. Christian Vietoris also pits for fresh tyres.
Lap 14: Coulthard pits for his first mandatory stop.
Lap 15: Spengler comes in for his first mandatory stop in the lead. He goes back out in tenth place. Jamie Green pulls into the pits, emerging ahead of Paffett.
Lap 22: Ralf Schumacher in third place comes in for his first pit stop. Spengler, Paffett and Green are in P3, 4 and 5.
Lap 26: Maro Engel is the first Mercedes-Benz driver to complete his second mandatory pit stop. Vietoris also comes in for his second stop.
Lap 27: Renger van der Zande pits for the second time.
Lap 30: Second mandatory pit stop for Paffett. He reemerges in P6.
Lap 32: Spengler pits for a second time and emerges in fifth place.
Lap 33: Second and final pit stop for Schumacher.
Lap 42: Green overtakes Miguel Molina (Audi) and moves up into fifth place.
Final lap (Lap 52): After 52 laps and a total distance of 180.856 km, Bruno Spengler is the best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver, taking the third podium spot. Gary Paffett is fourth and Jamie Green secures sixth place. Christian Vietoris and Maro Engel complete the Top 10.
Comments after the race:
Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) – Third:
“You can’t really be disappointed if you get onto the podium in such a hotly contested racing series as DTM - especially when it’s such a close race as we’ve had here at the Lausitzring. Martin Tomczyk put in a magnificent performance today to take a well deserved victory. At the same time, though, we’ve banked six valuable championship points. We’re intending to hit back in the next race at the Norisring, and I’m already looking forward to that.”
Gary Paffett (THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Class) – Fourth:
“I'm relatively happy with my result. Thanks to making a good start, I moved up one position, moving into fourth place. After a great pit stop, I was even able to pass Jamie. Throughout the race, my speed was a match for Bruno’s, who finished on the podium.”
Jamie Green (AMG Mercedes C-Class) – Sixth:
“After my second place in qualifying, I'm not pleased with sixth place. I lacked the necessary pace in the race. I also had some bad luck as a result of pit stops, dropping a couple of positions.”
Christian Vietoris (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) – Ninth:
“Ninth place is a good result for me. However, I am a little disappointed, because my first DTM point was within reach. Unfortunately, I dropped down a few places on the first lap, but managed to move back up during the race. We are on the right track.”
Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) – Tenth:
“Tenth place, after starting in 16th position is not too bad a result. Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t run entirely smoothly for us, and we couldn’t find our usual speed - in the next race at the Norisring, we want to regain our form from earlier this season.”
Ralf Schumacher (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) – Twelfth:
“I'm not happy with twelfth, but at least the race itself went better than the rest of the weekend. The second stint was really fun and my C-Class ran really well. I lost a little time on the first stint perhaps, but not much more was possible today.”
David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) – 13th:
“Unfortunately, I had problems with the car’s balance and couldn’t find my rhythm in the race. It was impossible for me to do better than P13. It was just not meant to be today.”
Renger van der Zande (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) – 14th:
“I lost several positions right at the start. I got the impression that I was nudged by several other cars. I was short on speed during the race, but I’m also taking a few positives from it, namely that I’ve put in a fair few kilometres today and gained more DTM experience. I think I’ve familiarised myself with the car now and feel sure that I’ll soon be scoring better results.”
Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) – retired:
“Today was just bad luck. My C-Class was running great this weekend, and we were really fast. Unfortunately, I started losing brake fluid. My mechanics did everything they could, but they weren’t finished in time for the start. That's part of racing, so now I’ll just have to focus on the next race at the Norisring.”
Norbert Haug, Vice-President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. After five successive victories and nine P1 finishes in eleven races at the Lausitzring, we didn’t have the speed to win today. Our race setup certainly wasn’t optimum today. We intend to correct that in time for the Norisring in two weeks. Congratulations to Martin Tomczyk and Phoenix-Audi on an excellent performance.”
Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Lausitzring, Germany, Jun 18, 2011
• At the Lausitzring, Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) starts from pole position for the third time in four races of the current DTM season and for the tenth time in his career
• 108th pole position for Mercedes-Benz in DTM
• Three C-Class drivers in the Top 5: Bruno Spengler and Jamie Green on the front row, Gary Paffett in fifth
• Mercedes-Benz claim eleventh pole in 13 DTM races at Lausitzring
Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) will start from pole in the fourth 2011 DTM race at the Lausitzring on Sunday (race start: 14:00 - broadcast from 13:45 onwards on ARD TV). The Canadian driver posted a time of 1:19.119 in the individual time trial at the end of qualifying. It’s his tenth DTM pole and his second at this track since 2007. For the 108th time, a Mercedes-Benz driver is on pole position in DTM - it’s the eleventh Mercedes pole at the EuroSpeedway track since its debut in 2000.
Mercedes-Benz team-mate Jamie Green (AMG Mercedes C-Class) will start alongside Spengler on the front row. The British driver posted the second fastest qualifying time in the fourth segment – 1:19.524.
With a time of 1:19.151, Gary Paffett (THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Class) missed out on the top four in qualifying by just 0.079 seconds. The two-time Lausitz winner starts the race from fifth on the grid.
Qualifying 1: In the first part of qualifying, Gary Paffett posted the fastest C-class time - 1:19.395. David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class / 1:19.737), Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class /1:19.785) and Ralf Schumacher (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class / 1:19.818) finished in positions 15 to 17. The gap between best time and 17th was just half a second in this highly competitive first qualifying session.
Qualifying 2: With a time of 1:19.044, Gary Paffett secured the second fastest time of the second part of qualifying. Christian Vietoris (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) finished in P10 in 1:19.234. Renger van der Zande (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class / 1:19.502) and Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class / 1:19.577) will start the race from P13 and P14. The gap between P1 and P14 again amounted to just over half a second.
Comments on qualifying:
Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) - pole position (1:19.119):
“That was a great qualifying session! I’m very satisfied with my performance, especially as we had a difficult day yesterday and not everything went to plan. We improved steadily in qualifying, and Q4 was really good. My C-Class was just great. I must say a big thank to my team for their strategy of only posting one flying lap in Q3, meaning we had fresher tyres in Q4. I now hope to secure my second win of the season tomorrow.”
Jamie Green (AMG Mercedes C-Class) - second (1:19.524):
“Second on the grid is a good result. I made mistakes in the last two sectors, and that cost me time. Even so, starting from the front row means I have a great chance of winning the race tomorrow. This track seems to suit the C-Class perfectly, and I’m really satisfied with my car.”
Gary Paffett (THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Cass) - fifth (1:19.151):
“I could have done more in qualifying, but unfortunately I made a mistake on the first turn and lost time. I'm expecting a very close race, because the times in qualifying were very close. A lot will depend on getting the right strategy.”
Christian Vietoris (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) - tenth (1:19.234):
“I'm happy with my qualifying result - as the best driver of a one-year old car, I've reached my minimum target. However, it’a a bit annoying because I missed going into the third qualifying segment by only two tenths of a second. Now I would like to secure my first points in the race.”
Renger van der Zande (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) - 13th (1:19.502):
“Qualifying was okay, though I was struggling with my car to some extent. I would ideally have liked to be closer to the front, but when I was on my hot lap, the track was a bit dirty in the final sector. That affected my time and I was unable to finish it off.”
Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) - 14th (1:19.577):
“I’ve reached my goal in qualifying and made it into the second session - so I'm happy with my performance. In the race I would be happy to finish in the points like last year.”
David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) - 15th (1:19.737):
“15th place is not what I was hoping for. We had a few problems with tyres and balance that we unfortunately could not solve immediately. I hope things go better in the race.”
Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) - 16th (1:19.785):
“Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found the necessary grip. After second practice, I was hoping for more than 16th place on the grid, but you only score points on Sunday - so I will not give up.”
Ralf Schumacher (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) - 17th (1:19.818):
“Things didn’t go right today. I haven’t yet got the feeling for the track. The C-Class is definitely good for more, as my team-mates have shown. it won't be easy from P17 on the grid, but is possible in the race, particularly if it rains.”
Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“A really strong pole lap by Bruno, just under half a second ahead of Mattias Ekström in P3 in the best-placed Audi. Previously, it had been much, much closer – in Q1, there was a gap of just 0.365 seconds between P1 and Susie in P14. In Q2, the top eight drivers were separated by exactly 0.2 seconds, and the top six – three Audis and three Mercedes C-Class cars – were less than a tenth apart. DTM has never been this close and this exciting. That makes Bruno’s pole today even more valuable and Jamie Green’s second place gives us a front row lockout. Fifth-placed Gary Paffett on the third row of the grid is also in a good position. A big thanks to everyone in our teams – they’ve done a brilliant job here today at the Lausitzring, and we are extremely pleased. Tomorrow, we will focus on what we hope will be a strong race that would give us six wins in a row, and hopefully, our twelfth victory in the fourteenth race at this circuit.”
Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
