» DTM: Spengler leads BMW 1-2 in qualifying

Bruno Spengler has led BMW to a qualifying 1-2 – and the carmaker’s first DTM pole position in twenty years – for this weekend’s race at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in just its second championship event since returning to the series.

The Canadian pipped fellow BMW stablemate Augusto Farfus to top spot, with BMW claiming two of the four spots in the final shootout for pole position in today’s qualifying session.

The pair will start from the front row of the grid, with championship leader Gary Paffett in third place in his Mercedes, while Mike Rockenfeller starts from fourth place in his Audi.

Demonstrating just how competitive this championship is, none of the drivers who made Q4 a week ago at Hockenheim were able to repeat the effort this time around.

Edoardo Mortara came closest, and will start from fifth place in his Rosberg Audi after missing out on a Q4 berth by six-hundredths of a second; he shares the third row of the grid with Jamie Green, who finished on the podium at Hockenheim last weekend.

Defending DTM champion Martin Tomczyk ensured that BMW – like Audi – had three of its cars in the first four rows of the grid. He will start from seventh place, one spot better than last week’s pole-winner, Mattias Ekström. The Swede’s Audi stablemates Miguel Molina and Adrien Tambay rounded out the top-ten.

The second phase of qualifying was an incredibly closely-fought affair, with the top-ten covered by less than 0.4 seconds. It was therefore little surprise to see a few high-profile casualties in this phase of qualifying, including two-time DTM champion Timo Scheider and former WTCC champion Andy Priaulx, who both missed the cut by less than one-tenth of a second.

It was a poor qualifying session for the field’s former F1 stars, with Ralf Schumacher continuing his Lausitz curse with another Q1 elimination in his Mercedes en route to 17th on the grid. Fellow F1 race-winner David Coulthard struggled to get a decent balance through the circuit’s twisty sections, and suffered several lock-ups on his way to a disappointing 20th on the grid.

2012 DTM Race of Lausitz – Qualifying Results:

	DRIVER	TEAM / ENTRY	RESULT
1.	Bruno Spengler	Team Schnitzer BMW	1:18.777	Q4
2.	Augusto Farfus Jr	Team RBM BMW	1:18.815	Q4
3.	Gary Paffett	HWA Team Mercedes	1:18.820	Q4
4.	Mike Rockenfeller	Phoenix Racing Audi	1:19.206	Q4
	Q4 CUT-OFF		1:18.312
5.	Edoardo Mortara	Team Rosberg Audi	1:18.374	Q3
6.	Jamie Green	HWA Team Mercedes	1:18.461	Q3
7.	Martin Tomczyk	Team RMG BMW	1:18.490	Q3
8.	Mattias Ekström	Abt Sportsline Audi	1:18.569	Q3
9.	Miguel Molina	Phoenix Racing Audi	1:18.667	Q3
10.	Adrien Tambay	Audi Sport Team Abt	1:18.686	Q3
	Q3 CUT-OFF		1:18.717
11.	Filipe Albuquerque	Team Rosberg Audi	1:18.749	Q2
12.	Timo Scheider	Abt Sportsline Audi	1:18.758	Q2
13.	Andy Priaulx	Team RBM BMW	1:18.771	Q2
14.	Joey Hand	Team RMG BMW	1:18.817	Q2
15.	Robert Wickens	Mücke Motorsport Mercedes	1:18.840	Q2
16.	Christian Vietoris	HWA Team Mercedes	1:18.862	Q2
	Q2 CUT-OFF		1:19.498
17.	Ralf Schumacher	HWA Team Mercedes	1:19.506	Q1
18.	Robert Merhi	Persson Motorsport Mercedes	1:19.557	Q1
19.	Susie Wolff	Persson Motorsport Mercedes	1:19.584	Q1
20.	David Coulthard	Mücke Motorsport Mercedes	1:19.682	Q1
21.	Dirk Werner	Team Schnitzer BMW	1:19.737	Q1
22.	Rahel Frey	Audi Sport Team Abt	1:20.415	Q1