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Spengler claims second DTM pole of 2012 in tense qualifying session at the Nurburgring

Bruno Spengler took his second DTM pole position of the year after coming out on top in a tense final part of qualifying at the Nurburgring

The Schnitzer BMW driver was third fastest in Q3, behind Mike Rockenfeller and Filipe Albuquerque, but set a tough marker of 1m24.284s during the one-lap Q4 shoot-out to hit the front.

In order, Audi drivers Albuquerque and Rockenfeller failed to beat his time, the Rosberg and Phoenix men qualifying third and fourth respectively.

Spengler's closest challenger for pole ended up being Albuquerque's Rosberg team-mate Edoardo Mortara, whose lap of 1m24.505s was just 0.221s slower than the Canadian's, despite him running wide at the exit of Turn 2 on his lap.

Martin Tomczyk, who was pushed out of the Q4 spots by Albuquerque with just seconds left on the clock, will start fifth in his RMG BMW, ahead of Augusto Farfus's RBM-run M3 and Jamie Green, who was the best of the Mercedes drivers in seventh for HWA.

Dirk Werner (Schnitzer), Robert Wickens and Timo Scheider (Abt Audi) completed the top 10, with Mucke Mercedes man Wickens taking the best qualifying position of his DTM career in ninth.

Championship leader Gary Paffett had a disastrous afternoon, failing to make it out of Q2 and qualifying down in 11th.

The HWA Mercedes driver had recorded his best time in sector one in the final minute of the session, but was forced to back off momentarily for waved yellow flags in sector two - the result of Farfus getting on the dirt on the exit of the Kurzangbindung hairpin and spinning backwards onto the grass on the opposite side of the track.

Like Paffett, last year's Nurburgring winner Mattias Ekstrom failed to make it out of Q2. He will start 12th in his Abt Audi.

Rahel Frey almost made it into Q2 for the first time in her DTM career, the Swiss driver falling just 0.018s shy of her Abt team-mate Ekstrom.

RBM driver Andy Priaulx, who said: "the track must have changed because after a good practice, I just totally lost the feeling with the car," and grand prix winner David Coulthard were among the others who failed to make it out of Q1.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car          Time       Gap
 1.  Bruno Spengler      Schnitzer BMW     1m24.284s
 2.  Edoardo Mortara     Rosberg Audi      1m24.505s  + 0.221s
 3.  Filipe Albuquerque  Rosberg Audi      1m24.555s  + 0.271s
 4.  Mike Rockenfeller   Phoenix Audi      1m24.727s  + 0.443s
 5.  Martin Tomczyk      RMG BMW           1m24.241s  Q3
 6.  Augusto Farfus      RBM BMW           1m24.288s  Q3
 7.  Jamie Green         HWA Mercedes      1m24.312s  Q3
 8.  Dirk Werner         Schnitzer BMW     1m24.422s  Q3
 9.  Robert Wickens      Mucke Mercedes    1m24.423s  Q3
10.  Timo Scheider       Abt Audi          1m24.748s  Q3
11.  Gary Paffett        HWA Mercedes      1m24.486s  Q2
12.  Mattias Ekstrom     Abt Audi          1m24.507s  Q2
13.  Miguel Molina       Phoenix Audi      1m24.539s  Q2
14.  Joey Hand           RMG BMW           1m24.664s  Q2
15.  Ralf Schumacher     HWA Mercedes      1m24.705s  Q2
16.  Adrien Tambay       Abt Audi          1m24.747s  Q2
17.  Rahel Frey          Abt Audi          1m24.890s  Q1
18.  Christian Vietoris  HWA Mercedes      1m24.944s  Q1
19.  Andy Priaulx        RBM BMW           1m24.974s  Q1
20.  Roberto Merhi       Persson Mercedes  1m25.114s  Q1
21.  Susie Wolff         Persson Mercedes  1m25.275s  Q1
22.  David Coulthard     Mucke Mercedes    1m25.297s  Q1

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