Qualifying: Audi whitewash

The Abt-run cars took the top four places after Tomczyk, Mattias Ekstrom, Laurent Aiello and Christian Abt timed their quick laps to perfection. Just after the quartet had risen to the top, down came the rain that had been threatening to fall all day. It made the final half-hour of the 45 minute session a disappointing wash-out.

"The team made the right decision when to send us out," said Tomczyk. "The conditions were very slippery in the main braking points into the slow corners because there was a lot of rubber laid down."

Aiello, who won at Hockenheim two weeks ago, said: "Corner by corner, you didn't know how much grip you would have. The main thing was to stay on the circuit. Third is a good starting position for me."

Michael Bartels was a surprise best-of-the-rest, qualifying his Team Holzer Opel fifth. His team-mate Timo Scheider was next up in sixth.

Champion Bernd Schneider was the fastest Mercedes driver in seventh, ahead of Uwe Alzen's Warsteiner-backed CLK. Alain Menu, who had been quickest in testing on Friday, was a frustrated ninth in his Opel, ahead of Dutchman Patrick Huisman and the only Belgian in the field, Yves Olivier.

Karl Wendlinger's Audi was the only one to to qualify outside of the top four. The former Grand Prix driver clashed with Stefan Mucke just four minutes into the session, bringing out the red flags for a brief stoppage, and will line up a lowly 16th.

Peter Dumbreck will start tomorrow's qualification race a lowly 18th in his year-old CLK, but at least the Scot made it out for the session. Opel's Jo Winkelhock failed to appear after rolling his car in the morning practice session. His mechanics are working to prepare the car for tomorrow.

Martin Tomczyk (D) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m28.202s
Mattias Ekström (S) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m28.317s
Laurent Aiello (F) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m28.396s
Christian Abt (D) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m28.408s
Michael Bartels (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m28.542s
Timo Scheider (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m28.661s
Bernd Schneider (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m28.687s
Uwe Alzen (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m28.714s
Alain Menu (CH) Euroteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m28.876s
Patrick Huisman (NL) Manthey Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m29.275s
Yves Olivier (B) Eutoteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 1m29.290s
Christijan Albers (NL) Rosberg Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m29.432s
Jean Alesi (F) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m29.466s
Manuel Reuter (D) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupe, 1m29.645s
Marcel Fässler (CH) AMG Mercedes-Bend CLK, 1m29.728s
Karl Wendlinger (A) Abt-Audi TT-R, 1m29.867s
Thomas Jäger (D) Persson Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m30.370s
Peter Dumbreck (GB) Persson Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m30.664s
Bernd Maylander (D) Manthey Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m40.248s
Stefan Mücke (D) Rosberg Mercedes-Benz CLK, 1m53.537s