From the racetrack Audi motorsport news

May 3, 2008

Audi driver Timo Scheider remains "the man to be beaten” in the DTM: at the third race of the season the German in his GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM will start from the pole position as well. At Mugello (Italy), Scheider managed a perfect lap at the crucial moment of qualifying, resulting in a gap of over three tenths of a second to the rest of the field.

Since the new Audi A4 DTM cars – following their victories at Hockenheim and Oschersleben – have to run with 20 kilograms more weight than the 2008-spec Mercedes contenders, the field at Mugello moved together closely, as expected. In the third and crucial qualifying segment the quickest four Audi and Mercedes vehicles came within 86 thousandths of a second of each other almost up to the end of the session – and, what’s more, on a race track that – at 5.245 kilometres – is the longest on the DTM schedule. However, just as the chequered flag was being waved, Timo Scheider managed to improve by four tenths of a second yet again and, cheered by his mechanics, pushed from fifth place forwards to first.
 
With Tom Kristensen on grid position three and Mattias Ekström on position four, three of the four new Audi A4 DTM cars fielded by Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline will start to the race from the first two rows on the grid. Kristensen set the fastest time in the first qualifying segment, Ekström in the second. However, as track temperatures kept rising, neither of them managed to match his personal best time in the third session.

The starting grid at Mugello

1. Timo Scheider (GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM) 1m 43.079s
2. Jamie Green (Mercedes) 1m 43.401s
3. Tom Kristensen (Audi A4 DTM) 1m 43.420s
4. Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM) 1m 43.472s
5. Paul di Resta (Mercedes) 1m 43.487s
6. Bruno Spengler (Mercedes) 1m 43.579s
7. Bernd Schneider (Mercedes) 1m 43.579s
8. Markus Winkelhock (Playboy Audi A4 DTM) 1m 44.025s
9. Alexandre Prémat (Audi Bank/Shell Helix Audi A4 DTM) 1m 43.927s
10. Mike Rockenfeller (S line Audi A4 DTM) 1m 43.997s
11. Oliver Jarvis (Best Buddies Audi A4 DTM) 1m 44.031s
12. Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM) 1m 44.154s
13. Ralf Schumacher (Mercedes) 1m 44.735s
14. Maro Engel (Mercedes) 1m 45.357s
15. Gary Paffett (Mercedes) 1m 44.914s
16. Christijan Albers (Audi A4 DTM) 1m 44.986s
17. Mathias Lauda (Mercedes) 1m 45.644s
18. Katherine Legge (Audi A4 DTM) 1m 46.086s
19. Susie Stoddart (Mercedes) 1m 46.258s