Paffett on Pole; Mercedes Dominate

Paffett lapped the newly configured, 3.410 kilometres long EuroSpeedway Lausitzring in one minute and 15.808 seconds - some two tenths of a second faster than compatriot Jamie Green, making the front of tomorrow's race an all-British, all-Mercedes affair.

Former Formula One World Champion Mika Hakkinen - taking part in his first DTM Super-Pole - qualified in third, just a fraction of a second behind the two Britons. The Finn, who is expecting his second child in the next couple of weeks, was second fastest in the qualifying session but was unable to improve his times in the Super-Pole session.

Mercedes dominated both qualifying and super-pole sessions, with only Audi's Mattias Ekstrom spoiling an all-Mercedes top six. The reigning DTM Champion was fastest in the qualifying session, but was only able to set the fourth fastest time in the Super-Pole session.

Perhaps the most disappointed driver of the day, though, was Jean Alesi, winner of the previous race, two weeks ago. Alesi was one of only two Mercedes drivers not to make it into the Super-Pole contest, having qualified in 11th.

DTM Qualifying, Lausitzring

Pos  Driver           Make                  Laps Time
 1.  Mattias Ekstrom  Audi A4 DTM            8   1:16.064
 2.  Mika Hakkinen    AMG-Mercedes C-Class   7   1:16.071 + 0.007
 3.  Gary Paffett     AMG-Mercedes C-Class   6   1:16.163 + 0.099
 4.  Bernd Schneider  AMG-Mercedes C-Class   6   1:16.318 + 0.254
 5.  Bruno Spengler   AMG-Mercedes C-Class   9   1:16.342 + 0.278
 6.  Jamie Green      AMG-Mercedes C-Class   6   1:16.404 + 0.340
 7.  Stefan Mucke     AMG-Mercedes C-Class   9   1:16.653 + 0.589
 8.  Tom Kristensen   Audi A4 DTM            9   1:16.694 + 0.630
 9.  Marcel Fassler   Opel Vectra GTS V8     9   1:16.723 + 0.659
10.  Martin Tomczyk   Audi A4 DTM            9   1:16.764 + 0.700
11.  Jean Alesi       AMG-Mercedes C-Class   9   1:16.776 + 0.712
12.  Pierre Kaffer    Audi A4 DTM            9   1:16.890 + 0.826
13.  Allan McNish     Audi A4 DTM            9   1:16.901 + 0.837
14.  Frank Stippler   Audi A4 DTM            9   1:16.913 + 0.849
15.  Manuel Reuter    Opel Vectra GTS V8     9   1:16.945 + 0.881
16.  Rinaldo Capello  Audi A4 DTM            9   1:17.073 + 1.009
17.  H.H Frentzen     Opel Vectra GTS V8     8   1:17.103 + 1.039
18.  Christian Abt    Audi A4 DTM            9   1:17.268 + 1.204
19.  Alex Margaritis  AMG-Mercedes C-Class   9   1:17.308 + 1.244
20.  Laurent Aiello   Opel Vectra GTS V8     8   1:17.457 + 1.393

Super Pole

Pos  Driver           Make                   Time
 1.  Gary Paffett     AMG-Mercedes C-Class   1:15.808
 2.  Jamie Green      AMG-Mercedes C-Class   1:16.015 + 0.207
 3.  Mika Hakkinen    AMG-Mercedes C-Class   1:16.106 + 0.298
 4.  Mattias Ekstrom  Audi A4 DTM            1:16.244 + 0.436
 5.  Bernd Schneider  AMG-Mercedes C-Class   1:16.358 + 0.550
 6.  Bruno Spengler   AMG-Mercedes C-Class   1:16.441 + 0.633
 7.  Tom Kristensen   Audi A4 DTM            1:16.468 + 0.660
 8.  Marcel Fassler   Opel Vectra GTS V8     1:16.581 + 0.773
 9.  Martin Tomczyk   Audi A4 DTM            1:16.596 + 0.788
10.  Stefan Mucke     AMG-Mercedes C- Class  1:16.638 + 0.830