Narrow margins in DTM qualifying at Oschersleben

Four Audi A5 DTM cars on the four front rows of the grid

Last years winner Mattias Ekstrm will start from position five on the grid into the DTM race at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben near Magdeburg on Sunday (from 13:45 live on "Das Erste"). Four Audi A5 DTM cars in total are on the four front rows of the grid. Ekstrm missed the shoot-out for the top four grid positions in his Red Bull Audi A5 DTM by merely 98 thousandths of a second. "Qualifying was pretty tough," said the Swede from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline. "Of course not having made it into Q4 is a bit disappointing. But more was not possible today. In the race, Im determined to give everything and to fight like a lion to advance."On row three alongside Ekstrm on Sunday will be Zandvoort winner Edoardo Mortara (Playboy Audi A5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Rosberg). The fourth row of the grid with Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi A5 DTM) and Miguel Molina (Red Bull Audi A5 DTM) belongs to the two racers from Audi Sport Team Phoenix.Filipe Albuquerque (TV Movie Audi A5 DTM) and Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi A5 DTM) will be starting into the 51-lap race from positions 14 and 15. Adrien Tambay (Audi ultra A5 DTM) and Rahel Frey (E-POSTBRIEF Audi A5 DTM) are sharing the ninth row. "At Zandvoort, we had five cars on the top five grid positions, here weve got the best one on grid position five - this shows yet again how close and varied the competition is in the DTM," commented Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "The time gaps in qualifying were extremely small. We werent lacking a lot but in the DTM simply everything has got to fit if you want to be at the very front. But qualifying and the race are two different things. Tomorrow, well do everything within our means to move forward. After all, weve got four cars in the top ten."

Quotes after qualifying.Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "After qualifying at Zandvoort was really brilliant its obviously disappointing to experience the worst qualifying session of the season here. Weve again got four Audi cars in the top ten but only on positions five to eight. This doesnt match our expectations. I think that tomorrow in the race well be in a better position than in qualifying and am hoping for us to convert this into a better race result."Mattias Ekstrm (Red Bull Audi A5 DTM), grid position 5"Qualifying was pretty tough. I never had the feeling of running well. Fifth place is okay. Obviously, not having made it into Q4 is a bit disappointing. But more was not possible today. In the race, Im going to give everything and fight like a lion to advance."Edoardo Mortara (Playboy Audi A5 DTM), grid position 6"In qualifying, the car was better than it was this morning and yesterday. We had made a few changes since the free practice. We were competitive in Q1 and Q2 and were thus able to save a set of tires. In Q3, I made a mistake on my fastest lap. Tomorrow, well see what we can achieve from this situation in the race."Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi A5 DTM), grid position 7"Seventh place is a disappointing grid position. I knew that it would be difficult. The time should have been enough for fifth place if Id managed the lap well. More than that, though, wasnt possible. Now weve got to see to doing a better job tomorrow."Miguel Molina (Red Bull Audi A5 DTM), grid position 8"This qualifying session was one of my best ones this season. Im happy to have made it into Q3. Weve got a good starting base for the race." Filipe Albuquerque (TV Movie Audi A5 DTM), grid position 14"My qualifying wasnt good. I knew that it would be difficult but had expected more than this. 14th place is disappointing for me. I would have liked making it into Q3 and the top ten. At Oschersleben, its very difficult to make up positions in the race from 14th on the grid." Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi A5 DTM), grid position 15"A strange qualifying session. The car was better than in free practice. But we knew that it would be tough because we were losing time in the first sector the whole weekend and werent able to significantly improve this sector in qualifying either. On the one hand, thats disappointing. But tomorrow in the race well try and convert this into a better result than at Zandvoort." Adrien Tambay (Audi ultra A5 DTM), grid position 17 "I was eliminated in Q1 for the first time. That was a bit disappointing. On the first set of tires I was running well. On the second set, I made a mistake and missed Q2 by a very narrow margin. But tomorrow is a new day. Im hoping for a great race with a good strategy."Rahel Frey (E-POSTBRIEF Audi A5 DTM), grid position 18"I was happy with my Audi in qualifying. I gave my best. I very barely missed Q2. Still, it was my second-best qualifying session this season."Hans-Jrgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): "Obviously, were not happy with position five. Wed been hoping to make it into Q4 and in the end werent lacking much to do so. Now, we want to try and achieve a good result for Audi over the whole distance." Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): "Like all other qualifying sessions this year, this one today was truly a thriller all the way up to the last minute. Its a shame that because of a lacking tenth we didnt manage to put an Audi into the top four. Im quite happy with my team. We wanted to make it into the third qualifying segment at all cost and managed to do this with both cars. Grid positions seven and eight are a starting base for the race that makes us hopeful. Now weve got to see to getting our race speed right in the warm-up. Then well attack."Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): "You could see that the situation today was incredibly tight and quick, too. This morning we didnt think that wed be able to drive a deep 1m 21. Now, Edo (Mortara) even managed 1m 20.9s. In Filipes (Albuquerque) case, wed certainly been hoping for more than 14th place but were happy with Edo (Mortara) on grid position six. That means theres quite a bit possible tomorrow."