BMW Team RBM driver Augusto Farfus starts from the front row in Hockenheim – Spengler and Hand also make top ten.

Hockenheim (DE), 4th May 2013. Augusto Farfus (BR) will start the opening race of the 2013 DTM season from the front row of the grid as the best-placed BMW driver. Having made it through to the Top-4 Qualifying, the BMW Team RBM driver was just 0.116 seconds slower than Audi driver Timo Scheider (DE), meaning the Brazilian starts from the front row in the Castrol EDGE BMW M3 DTM for the fourth time in his DTM career. Reigning champion Bruno Spengler (CA) will look to move through the field from seventh on the grid in the number 1 BMW Bank M3 DTM. Joey Hand (US) qualified ninth at the wheel of the number 8 BMW M3 DTM. 

The drivers started out on a wet track, before the Hockenheimring gradually dried out over the course of qualifying. However, only in the third qualifying session was it actually possible to run on slicks. Martin Tomczyk finished 11th to narrowly miss out on the top ten in these difficult conditions. He was knocked off tenth spot in the final seconds of Q2. Timo Glock (DE) ended his first DTM qualifying in 15th. Andy Priaulx (GB), Marco Wittmann (DE) and Dirk Werner (DE) failed to progress beyond Q1, and will start the race from 17th, 21st and 22nd respectively. Wittmann was hindered by a technical problem on the Ice-Watch BMW M3 DTM. 

The first race of the year begins at 13:30 on Sunday. As usual, ARD will broadcast the season-opener live.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):

“Generally speaking, we can be happy with the way the first qualifying of the new season panned out. We knew before we even started that the weather conditions would make it a lottery. A few of our drivers were unlucky, others were more fortunate. Augusto Farfus did a worthy job of representing us in the final qualifying session, and has put himself in a great position for tomorrow, starting from second. However, I am also confident we can expect big things from Bruno Spengler, Joey Hand and our other drivers. I am very excited to see how the race pans out tomorrow. There are a lot of new issues, and there will be new experiences for all the teams and drivers.” 

Augusto Farfus (car number 7, BMW Team RBM, 2nd):

“That was a good start to the new season. We were very quick in all the qualifying sessions, and always among the front-runners. The tricky thing today was heading out onto the track at the right time in ever-changing conditions. After my flying lap in Q4, the track continued to dry out. Therefore, it was clear to me that the drivers going after me would have a better chance of securing pole. For this reason, I am very happy with my second place. I ended the 2012 season with a great result in Hockenheim and am very happy with the way I have started the new season so far.” 

Bruno Spengler (car number 1, BMW Team Schnitzer, 7th):

“Seventh place is not such a bad result in that kind of qualifying. The weather made it something of a lottery. I was six seconds too late to fit in another lap, on which I could perhaps have improved my time. With the new format, a lot should be possible in tomorrow’s race. I am certain my team will come up with a good strategy.” 

Joey Hand (car number 8, BMW Team RMG, 9th):

“My goal for the season was to consistently qualify in the top ten. I have already achieved that once with today’s ninth place. The car was good, but I did not quite manage to get the very best out of it. However, the conditions were far from easy. Every one of us could have been first or last. Because of this, I am happy with my result.” 

Martin Tomczyk (car number 15, BMW Team RMG, 11th):

“Unfortunately I missed out on Q3 by a whisker. We had to cope with pretty difficult track conditions today. Not everything went to plan but, even in my 13th year in the DTM, I am still learning. I am confident I can make up some places in tomorrow’s race.” 

Timo Glock (car number 22, BMW Team MTEK, 15th):

“I went into my first DTM qualifying with a very good feeling. At first, everything went really well and I was lapping quickly. Then we possibly made a small mistake in Q2 and the tyres degraded dramatically. After that, I was unable to match the pace of the others. Let’s see what happens in the race.” 

Andy Priaulx (car number 16, BMW Team RMG, 17th):

“I got a bit caught up in traffic on my last lap. That cost me time and prevented me from making it through to the next session. In these conditions, every tenth of a second was crucial. I am obviously a bit disappointed, as everything went really well in the wet this morning.” 

Marco Wittmann (car number 21, BMW Team MTEK, 21st):

“I had a good start to my first qualifying. The car felt very good. Unfortunately we suffered a technical problem, which meant it was no longer possible to improve on my lap times. We must now find out exactly what caused the problem. There can be only one approach to tomorrow’s race: attack.” 

Dirk Werner (car number 2, BMW Team Schnitzer, 22nd):

“I am obviously very disappointed to have been knocked out in Q1, as you spend the entire winter looking forward to the first qualifying. I tried everything, but unfortunately I could not do any better today. I must now do all I can in the race, in order to end the weekend with a good result.” 

Facts and figures Hockenheim:    

2013 calendar:

5th May – Hockenheim (DE), 19th May – Brands Hatch (GB), 2nd June – Spielberg (AT), 16th June – Lausitzring (DE), 14th July – Norisring (DE), 4th August – Moscow (RU), 18th August – Nürburgring (DE), 15th September – Oschersleben (DE), 29th September – Zandvoort (NL), 20th October – Hockenheim (DE).

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