Canadian driver Bruno Spengler clinched pole position today in qualifying in Dijon. Spengler set fastest time ahead of team mate Paul Di Resta, while Audi drivers Tom Kristensen and Mathias Ekstrom will share row two.
It’s Spengler's first pole position this year. Last time he started from the pole dates to Norisring in 2008.
Championship leader Timo Scheider (Audi) will start from the back of the field, with a 16th place performance in qualifying. Gary Paffett (Mercedes) who currently lies third in provisional classification, will start from outside row four.
The session began on a dry track, but then resume on very wet conditions. which helped Spengler: he set second best performance in Q3, then took the first place in Q4.
"This qualifying session was difficult," said Spengler to auto123.com. "Conditions were tough on the track and I only had one day of testing under rain conditions."
"This morning saw a little rain, but we were red flagged when it happened. Then the track had time to dry and qualifying got under way. I still had to find my settings for the dry. Fortunately, my team did an awesome job at making sure the car was as good in dry as in rain conditions."
"This way when rain started to hit my windshield in Q3, I was not automatically off course. It was all about timing and my team did a perfect job, again, at brigning me in at the exact good time, to change my slicks to sculpted tires mid-Q3. I was then able to register a good enough time to reach Q4 and then clinched pole."
"The race will be long and difficult tomorrow. The track in Dijon is very different from what we have experienced until now. Tires will play an important role in the results; we will have to find a way to manage them as efficiently as possible. The weather, very changing here, means anything can happen."
It’s Spengler's first pole position this year. Last time he started from the pole dates to Norisring in 2008.
Championship leader Timo Scheider (Audi) will start from the back of the field, with a 16th place performance in qualifying. Gary Paffett (Mercedes) who currently lies third in provisional classification, will start from outside row four.
The session began on a dry track, but then resume on very wet conditions. which helped Spengler: he set second best performance in Q3, then took the first place in Q4.
"This qualifying session was difficult," said Spengler to auto123.com. "Conditions were tough on the track and I only had one day of testing under rain conditions."
"This morning saw a little rain, but we were red flagged when it happened. Then the track had time to dry and qualifying got under way. I still had to find my settings for the dry. Fortunately, my team did an awesome job at making sure the car was as good in dry as in rain conditions."
"This way when rain started to hit my windshield in Q3, I was not automatically off course. It was all about timing and my team did a perfect job, again, at brigning me in at the exact good time, to change my slicks to sculpted tires mid-Q3. I was then able to register a good enough time to reach Q4 and then clinched pole."
"The race will be long and difficult tomorrow. The track in Dijon is very different from what we have experienced until now. Tires will play an important role in the results; we will have to find a way to manage them as efficiently as possible. The weather, very changing here, means anything can happen."