Kristensen on Pole at the Norisring

The Dane sealed his spot with a brilliant middle sector during the top ten Super Pole shoot out, and Paffett's final effort was just not enough to secure him the top spot after being quickest in the main qualifying session.

Canadian Bruno Spengler was one of the surprises of the session as he put in the best performance of his DTM career to take third on the grid in a 2004 car.

Frenchman Jean Alesi will start fourth, having appeared to have sorted the brake problems that had hampered his practice efforts in the morning but losing time in the middle sector.

Championship leader Mathias Ekstrom, who is just one point ahead of Paffett in the standings, was fifth fastest after losing time when he appeared to lock up twice under braking for the first corner.

The Swede will start ahead Opel's Manuel Reuter and Mika Hakkinen in the Mercedes-Benz. Marcel Fassler qualified eighth for Opel, ahead of Mercedes-Benz duo Jamie Green and Bernd Schneider.

Former Grand Prix drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Allan McNish both failed to get inside the top ten to qualify for the Super Pole session. Frentzen will start 11th, with McNish just one place behind.

SUPER POLE

Pos  Driver           Make                    Time
 1.  Tom Kristensen   Audi A4 DTM             48.446
 2.  Gary Paffett     AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.009
 3.  Bruno Spengler   AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.023
 4.  Jean Alesi       MG-Mercedes C-Klasse    +0.051
 5.  Mattias Ekstrom  Audi A4 DTM             +0.096
 6.  Manuel Reuter    Opel Vectra GTS V8      +0.283
 7.  Mika Hakkinen    AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.299
 8.  Marcel Fassler   Opel Vectra GTS V8      +0.387
 9.  Jamie Green      AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.423
10.  Bernd Schneider  AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.513

QUALIFYING

Pos  Driver           Make                    Time
 1.  Gary Paffett     AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   48.257
 2.  Jean Alesi       MG-Mercedes C-Klasse    +0.054
 3.  Tom Kristensen   Audi A4 DTM             +0.072
 4.  Bruno Spengler   AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.094
 5.  Mika Hakkinen    AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.217
 6.  Jamie Green      AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.225
 7.  Mattias Ekstrom  Audi A4 DTM             +0.248
 8.  Bernd Schneider  AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.315
 9.  Marcel Fassler   Opel Vectra GTS V8      +0.339
10.  Manuel Reuter    Opel Vectra GTS V8      +0.460
11.  H.H. Frentzen    Opel Vectra GTS V8      +0.493
12.  Allan McNish     Audi A4 DTM             +0.604
13.  Frank Stippler   Audi A4 DTM             +0.623
14.  Martin Tomczyk   Audi A4 DTM             +0.711
15.  Rinaldo Capello  Audi A4 DTM             +0.761
16.  Stefan Mucke     AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.789
17.  Christian Abt    Audi A4 DTM             +0.849
18.  A.Margaritis     AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse   +0.950
19.  Pierre Kaffer    Audi A4 DTM             +1.232
20.  Laurent Aiello   Opel Vectra GTS V8      +1.321

STARTING GRID

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