After scoring his 11th Deutsche Tourenwagne Masters pole this afternoon, Audi’s Timo Scheider is cautiously optimistic about his chances in the race tomorrow, citing the new option tyres and DRS system as unknown variables.
On a drying circuit, Scheider was able to kick start is season in the perfect circumstances, having endured a torrid 2012. The German admitted that the unpredictability caused by the conditions would remain for raceday, with the new option tyres and DRS coming in to play for the first time.
““Today you had to make the right decisions, and that’s what we did,” said Scheider. “Tomorrow, it’ll be about carefully handling the tires and making the best of this pole position. In any event, starting from the very front with the RS 5 DTM at the DTM season opener at Hockenheim is fantastic – particularly since, before the qualifying session, we really didn’t know where we stood after it was raining in free practice.”
The DTM’s most experienced driver also added that the difficult season in 2012, coupled with a challenging winter development period, had motivated him to push even harder in 2013.
“When you analyze the data in the winter, of course your wish is to do everything better in the new season,” added Scheider. “We had a rough winter with respect to the development. But I, personally, wanted to improve compared to the previous years as well.”
Dieter Gass, Audi’s new Head of DTM, was also cautiously optimistic, with Audi having just two drivers (Scheider and Mattias Ekström) inside the top ten.
“Well done to Timo Scheider, his engineer and Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline: They did everything right today in these extremely difficult conditions and deserve clinching the pole position,” said Gass. “But I think that qualifying was just a foretaste of the race tomorrow, which not least due to the conditions today will be a journey into the unknown. Of course it’s our aim to make it into the top ten with more than two cars.”
Sunday’s first DTM race of the season takes place at 13:33 CEST (12:33 BST).