Bruno Spengler has had his Oschersleben Pole Position taken away from him after qualifying due to a technical issue during the session.
The reigning Champion had topped the times during the fourth and final part of qualifying and was due to start the eighth round of the Championship from the head of the field.
After qualifying, it was confirmed that the BMW driver had used a tyre which was meant to be used only in the final segment of qualifying in the third part of qualifying and thus was demoted five places on the grid.
“I am obviously very disappointed that we have been stripped of pole position,” said Spengler. “The team worked hard during the DTM break to make my car quicker – and that paid off. It was not easy to get pole in these difficult conditions. That makes it all the more disillusioning to have to give it up. However, a lot is still possible from sixth tomorrow.”
Spenglers penalty has seen Audi’s Jamie Green promoted to pole position with fellow BMW driver Augusto Farfus joining the Brit on the front row. Championship leader Mike Rockenfeller has also benefitted as he will start third for tomorrows race, and helps increase the likelyhood that ‘Rocky’ could be crowned as the 2013 DTM Champion.
Dirk Werner and Felipe Albuquerque have also benefitted from the penalty to Spengler, who will line up on the outside of the third row of the grid.