Qualifying: Ekstrom scores first pole

Ekstrom was the pacesetter from the off in his Red Bull-backed Audi TT-R, although AMG Mercedes duo Jean Alesi and Uwe Alzen also held the top spot early on.

The session was red flagged after just 10 minutes, however, after Tomczyk suffered a frightening accident at Turn 1 due to a suspected front brake failure. From a speed approaching 160mph, his Audi locked its rears, spun twice and hit the tyrewall backwards with a sickening blow. Fortunately, he was able to walk away from his wrecked TT-R uninjured.

"We are still looking at exactly what happened, but from the TV pictures it looks like a brake problem," said team boss Hans Jurgen Abt. "I have a little hope that we can fix the car, but not that much to be honest."

When the session resumed, Christian Abt looked favourite for pole. He dipped down into the 49.4sec zone, only for his gearbox to explode to deny him seven of his 12 laps.

Ekstrom was the first to beat him with a 49.239s, which was enough for him to take the first DTM pole of his career: "I've come close to pole before, so I'm very happy it has finally worked out for me," he said.

Aiello was the next to push Abt down, taking second spot with a 39.369s despite struggling with brake problems all weekend: "I didn't expect this, but we changed the car at the very end of the session and I found the time to be at the front of the grid," he said.

AMG Mercedes trio Bernd Schneider, Alzen and Alesi also improved to push the frustrated Abt down to sixth. "I could have beaten Aiello with my last lap, but I locked up under braking for the final corner," claimed Schneider.

Joachim Winkelhock was the first of the disappointed Opel runners down in ninth: "I expected a top six position, so I'm disappointed with this. A few things prevented us from being higher up," he said.

Tomorrow's DTM qualification race starts after the World Cup final concludes at 15.30 local time (14.30 BST).


Mattias Ekström (S) Abt-Audi TT-R, 49.239s
Laurent Aiello (F) Abt-Audi TT-R, 49.369s
Bernd Schneider (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 49.379s
Uwe Alzen (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 49.379s
Jean Alesi (F) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 49.386s
Christian Abt (D) Abt-Audi TT-R, 49.425s
Karl Wendlinger (A) Abt-Audi TT-R, 49.455s
Marcel Fässler (CH) AMG Mercedes-Bend CLK, 49.456s
Joachim Winkelhock (D) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 49.652s
Timo Scheider (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 49.660s
Manuel Reuter (D) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupe, 49.693s
Bernd Maylander (D) Manthey Mercedes-Benz CLK, 49.800s
Thomas Jäger (D) Persson Mercedes-Benz CLK, 49.878s
Alain Menu (CH) Euroteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 49.934s
Patrick Huisman (NL) Manthey Mercedes-Benz CLK, 49.948s
Stefan Mücke (D) Rosberg Mercedes-Benz CLK, 49.998s
Christijan Albers (NL) Rosberg Mercedes-Benz CLK, 50.108s
Michael Bartels (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 50.133s
Yves Olivier (B) Eutoteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 50.136s
Peter Dumbreck (GB) Persson Mercedes-Benz CLK, 50.179s

Martin Tomczyk (D) Abt-Audi TT-R, 8m35.494s