Marco Wittmann has hailed his maiden pole position in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters as “absolutely unbelievable” after the BMW driver took the top spot in qualifying at Zandvoort.
Wittmann, 23, has twice previously qualified on the front row of the grid in his maiden DTM season. However the young German has now gone one better, securing his first pole position ahead of championship contender and BMW colleague Augusto Farfus.
“To be on pole in my first year in the DTM is absolutely unbelievable,” admitted Wittmann. “Qualifying was a close affair. However, I had a virtually perfect lap in the top-four shoot-out.”
The pole is also the first for the newly formed Team MTEK, headed up by Dutchman Ernest Knoors. Thus Wittmann’s pole is all the more special for the team, as it comes at the team’s home circuit on its final appearance on the DTM calendar, as Zandvoort is to be dropped from the 2014 calendar.
“This is a great day for me,” added Wittmann. “I would like to thank BMW Team MTEK for providing me with such a superb car. I have been working towards this success for a long time.”
Wittmann’s MTEK team-mate Timo Glock also enjoyed his strongest qualifying session of the season, taking eighth on his first foray into Q3.
“We took a step in the right direction today,” said Glock. “The car set-up was much better and I had a good feeling in qualifying. As a driver, you obviously always want more, but I am really happy with my eighth place on the grid here in Zandvoort, which is my best qualifying result in the DTM.
“My team did a fantastic job. Congratulations to Marco on his first pole position in the DTM. It is now all about scoring as many points as possible in tomorrow’s race.”
BMW’s Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt congratulated Wittmann on his first DTM pole, adding: “It goes without saying that I am particularly delighted by our rookie Marco Wittmann’s sensational pole position. Marco has been very impressive all year and more than deserves this pole.”