Adrien Tambay secured his first DTM pole position today in his Audi Team Abt machine.
The Frenchman made certain of the result following a late burst, which gave him the top spot over Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG) and Bruno Spengler (BMW Team Schnitzer).
Tambay’s best – a 1:32.272 – headed of a challenge from DTM debutante (BMW Team MTEK) Antonio Felix da Costa; however the Portuguese racer had two of his best laps discounted when he was found to have breached the track limits.
Da Costa’s error promoted Marco Wittmann to the front row. Wittmann, who ran well in free practice, maintained his good pace during qualifying, initially topping Q1 and edging through Q2 in 7th place. Former champion Spengler, too, grabbed 3rd with a fabulous last lap, placing just ahead of da Costa.
It will be an all-Audi third row, with Mattias Ekström qualifying ahead of Miguel Molina in the Team Abt Sportsline fight, while Edoardo Mortara (Audi Team Abt) and Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer).
Timo Glock missed out on Q3 by just 0.008s. The former Formula One racer headed off Audi pairing Timo Scheider and reigning champion Mike Rockenfeller and last year’s runner-up Augusto Farfus
Rookies Nico Müller and Maxime Martin filled out the seventh row, while veterans Joey Hand and Jamie Green could do no better than 17th and 18th respectively.
It was a horrific qualifying for Mercedes. Gary Paffett and Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes HWA) were the best of the marquees machine, finishing 15th and 16th respectively.
To make matters worse, all five cars to drop out of the first section of qualifying were Mercedes entries, led by DTM-returnee Paul di Resta (HWA, 19th), followed by Daniel Juncadella (Mucke Motorsport, 20th), Robert Wickens (21st), Christian Vietoris (22nd – both HWA) and Vitaly Petrov (Mucke Motorsport, 23rd).
2013 DTM Series (Rd 1, Qualifying, Hockenheim) Pos Driver Team Time 1. Adrien Tambay Abt Audi 1m32.272s 2. Marco Wittmann RMG BMW 1m32.419s 3. Bruno Spengler Schnitzer BMW 1m32.600s 4. Antonio Felix da Costa MTEK BMW 1m32.608s 5. Mattias Ekstrom Abt Audi 1m32.624s 6. Miguel Molina Abt Audi 1m32.787s 7. Edoardo Mortara Abt Audi 1m32.898s 8. Martin Tomczyk Schnitzer BMW 1m33.113s Q2 9. Timo Glock MTEK BMW 1m32.603s 10. Timo Scheider Phoenix Audi 1m32.706s 11. Mike Rockenfeller Phoenix Audi 1m32.717s 12. Augusto Farfus RBM BMW 1m32.739s 13. Nico Muller Rosberg Audi 1m32.756s 14. Maxime Martin RMG BMW 1m32.792s 15. Gary Paffett HWA Mercedes 1m32.834s 16. Pascal Wehrlein HWA Mercedes 1m32.840s Q1 17. Joey Hand RBM BMW 1m32.885s 18. Jamie Green Rosberg Audi 1m32.986s 19. Paul di Resta HWA Mercedes 1m33.639s 20. Daniel Juncadella Mucke Mercedes 1m33.746s 21. Robert Wickens HWA Mercedes 1m33.875s 22. Christian Vietoris HWA Mercedes 1m34.242s 23. Vitaly Petrov Mucke Mercedes 1m34.367s
