Green Scores First DTM Pole

Things looked good for Opel in pre-qualifying, with Laurent Aiello setting the pace right at the end of the 27-minute session on an ever-drying track. Title protagonists Mattias Ekstrom (Audi) and Gary Paffett (Mercedes) sandwiched Mika Hakkinen's Mercedes.

The Super Pole was a totally different story, however. Third on track, by dint of being eighth fastest in pre-qualifying, Green's 1:17.489 was only ever rivalled by Frentzen's 1:17.679.

Manuel Reuter, who was first to set a time, only dropped to third as the track appeared to get slower and slower for no apparent reason.

"I'm quite surprised," admitted Green. "I expected the track to get quicker, but no-one could beat my time. It was a good lap, but not a dream lap."

Hakkinen was fourth fastest, despite flirting with the edge of the track at Turn 3 and a big twitch through the quick Apcoa right-hander.

Ekstrom took fifth with a restrained lap after seeing arch-rival Paffett suffer a major oversteer moment at Turn 2. Paffett will start eighth, behind Audi's Tom Kristensen.

Martin Tomczyk (Audi), Aiello (who was quick in the middle sector but awfully slow at the start and finish) and Rinaldo Capello (Audi) rounded out the top 10.

Super Pole:

Pos  Driver           Car                    Time
 1.  Jamie Green      AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:17.489
 2.  H.H. Frentzen    Opel Vectra GTS V8     1:17.679 + 0.190
 3.  Manuel Reuter    Opel Vectra GTS V8     1:18.106 + 0.617
 4.  Mika Hakkinen    AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:18.136 + 0.647
 5.  Mattias Ekstrom  Audi A4 DTM            1:18.142 + 0.653
 6.  Tom Kristensen   Audi A4 DTM            1:18.289 + 0.800
 7.  Gary Paffett     AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:18.386 + 0.897
 8.  Martin Tomczyk   Audi A4 DTM            1:18.481 + 0.992
 9.  Laurent Aiello   Opel Vectra GTS V8     1:18.867 + 1.378
10.  Rinaldo Capello  Audi A4 DTM            1:19.234 + 1.745

Qualifying:

Pos  Driver           Car                    Time
 1.  Laurent Aiello   Opel Vectra GTS V8     1:17.759
 2.  Mattias Ekstrom  Audi A4 DTM            1:17.855 + 0.096
 3.  Mika Hakkinen    AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:17.973 + 0.214
 4.  Gary Paffett     AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:17.997 + 0.238
 5.  H.H. Frentzen    Opel Vectra GTS V8     1:17.998 + 0.239
 6.  Martin Tomczyk   Audi A4 DTM            1:18.006 + 0.247
 7.  Rinaldo Capello  Audi A4 DTM            1:18.110 + 0.351
 8.  Jamie Green      AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:18.130 + 0.371
 9.  Tom Kristensen   Audi A4 DTM            1:18.152 + 0.393
10.  Manuel Reuter    Opel Vectra GTS V8     1:18.177 + 0.418
11.  Jean Alesi       AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:18.221 + 0.462
12.  Bruno Spengler   AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:18.244 + 0.485
13.  Frank Stippler   Audi A4 DTM            1:18.288 + 0.529
14.  Marcel Fassler   Opel Vectra GTS V8     1:18.307 + 0.548
15.  Allan McNish     Audi A4 DTM            1:18.366 + 0.607
16.  Bernd Schneider  AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:18.415 + 0.656
17.  Stefan Mucke     AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:18.614 + 0.855
18.  Pierre Kaffer    Audi A4 DTM            1:18.918 + 1.159
19.  Christian Abt    Audi A4 DTM            1:19.007 + 1.248
20.  A. Margaritis    AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse  1:19.330 + 1.571

Starting Grid:

Pos  Driver           Car
 1.  Jamie Green      AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse
 2.  H.H. Frentzen    Opel Vectra GTS V8
 3.  Manuel Reuter    Opel Vectra GTS V8
 4.  Mika Hakkinen    AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse
 5.  Mattias Ekstrom  Audi A4 DTM
 6.  Tom Kristensen   Audi A4 DTM
 7.  Gary Paffett     AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse
 8.  Martin Tomczyk   Audi A4 DTM
 9.  Laurent Aiello   Opel Vectra GTS V8
10.  Rinaldo Capello  Audi A4 DTM
11.  Jean Alesi       AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse
12.  Bruno Spengler   AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse
13.  Frank Stippler   Audi A4 DTM
14.  Marcel Fassler   Opel Vectra GTS V8
15.  Allan McNish     Audi A4 DTM
16.  Bernd Schneider  AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse
17.  Stefan Mucke     AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse
18.  Pierre Kaffer    Audi A4 DTM
19.  Christian Abt    Audi A4 DTM
20.  A. Margaritis    AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse