DTM: Nurburgring

[Plex]

Tomczyk grabs first pole since 2007

Martin Tomczyk took his first DTM pole position for nearly two years ahead of this weekend's race at the Nurburgring.

The German, who had set the pace in free practice as well, was nearly two tenths clear of Mercedes' Bruno Spengler in the crucial fourth segment of qualifying.

Spengler did well to make the front row after a difficult day for Mercedes. The Canadian had not shown the pace to match the quickest Audi drivers in the earlier segments, but he put together a strong lap at the end to edge ahead of Mattias Ekstrom and Timo Scheider.

Behind the first four, Oliver Jarvis was the top driver of a 2008-spec car in his Audi, just ahead of Paul di Resta in the second Mercedes.

Di Resta had been heading for eighth on the grid at the end of Q3, but crucially he managed to jump ahead of the Audis of Markus Winkelhock and Tom Kristensen in the dying seconds.

Mike Rockenfeller and Maro Engel completed the top 10, but the biggest story further down the field surrounded championship leader Gary Paffett, who will start the race from 16th on the grid.

The 2005 champion developed a misfire on his first flying lap in Q1 and his HWA crew were unable to fix the problem in time for him to get back out.

For a while it looked like he might sneak into Q2, which would have bought his mechanics some time, but late efforts from Mathias Lauda and Alexandre Premat dropped him out of the top 14, along with team-mate Ralf Schumacher.

Pos Driver Car Time
1. Martin Tomczyk Audi 1m23.489s
2. Bruno Spengler Mercedes 1m23.684s
3. Mattias Ekstrom Audi 1m23.758s
4. Timo Scheider Audi 1m24.183s
5. Oliver Jarvis Audi 1m23.848s
6. Paul di Resta Mercedes 1m23.850s
7. Markus Winkelhock Audi 1m23.938s
8. Tom Kristensen Audi 1m23.965s
9. Mike Rockenfeller Audi 1m24.324s
10. Maro Engel Mercedes 1m24.374s
11. Jamie Green Mercedes 1m24.574s
12. Alexandre Premat Audi 1m24.578s
13. Mathias Lauda Mercedes 1m24.637s
14. Katherine Legge Audi 1m24.755s
15. Ralf Schumacher Mercedes 1m24.548s
16. Gary Paffett Mercedes 1m24.650s
17. Susie Stoddart Mercedes 1m25.207s
18. Christian Bakkerud Audi 1m25.346s
19. Johannes Seidlitz Audi 1m25.460s
20. Tomas Kostka Audi 1m25.578s

Autosport

[Plex]

Tomczyk wins as Audi dominates

Martin Tomczyk capped a dominant weekend by leading home an Audi lockout of the top four places in the DTM race at the Nurburgring.

The pole-sitting German led his Abt Sportsline team-mates Timo Scheider and Mattias Ekstrom by a narrow margin throughout the race, but he was never under any serious pressure.

The three 2009-spec Audis cruised away from the field as soon as Ekstrom and Scheider had disposed of Bruno Spengler on the opening lap, and their tussle with the Mercedes driver enabled Markus Winkelhock to sneak into a fourth place that he would easily hold to the finish.

Spengler eventually fell behind Jamie Green's one-year-old car as well during the final round of pit stops, and he only just held onto sixth place ahead of Ralf Schumacher, who had a solid run to seventh place.

The ex-Formula 1 driver was the fastest of the 2009-spec Mercedes in the latter stages of the race, enabling him to close on Spengler while pulling away from Gary Paffett, who took the final point.

The British driver has fallen behind Scheider and Ekstrom in the championship, as he could only salvage a point after recovering from a collision with Katherine Legge on the opening lap.

While Paffett was coming back through the field, there were some dramatic incidents ahead of him. Paul di Resta was forced to retire when his rear wing came off at high speed just before the first corner, while Phoenix Audi team-mates Oliver Jarvis and Alexandre Premat lost points-paying positions when the Frenchman slammed into the side of the Brit under braking at the same place, forcing both to retire.


Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Martin Tomczyk Audi 1h10m19.195s
2. Timo Scheider Audi +1.205s
3. Mattias Ekstrom Audi +2.969s
4. Markus Winkelhock Audi +16.029s
5. Jamie Green Mercedes +23.349s
6. Bruno Spengler Mercedes +27.502s
7. Ralf Schumacher Mercedes +28.096s
8. Gary Paffett Mercedes +35.719s
9. Mathias Lauda Mercedes +42.148s
10. Mike Rockenfeller Audi +1m06.232s
11. Susie Stoddart Mercedes +1m09.555s
12. Maro Engel Mercedes +1m12.325s
13. Christian Bakkerud Audi +1 laps
14. Johannes Seidlitz Audi +1 laps
15. Tomas Kostka Audi +1 laps

Retirements

Paul di Resta Mercedes 15 laps
Tom Kristensen Audi 13 laps
Alexandre Prémat Audi 7 laps
Oliver Jarvis Audi 6 laps
Katherine Legge Audi 0 laps

Autosport