Mattias Ekstrom secured his twelfth DTM pole in qualifying at Hockenheim after Audi dominated ahead of the opening round of the 2009 season.

The Swede posted the quickest time during the final segment of qualifying to take pole ahead of Tom Kristensen, Martin Tomczyk and Oliver Jarvis after Audi cars filled the four positions in the final segment of qualifying.

"I knew that my boys had done a superb job in winter again," Ekstrom said. "And the result today shows that the new Audi A4 is simply a good car.

“Well done also to Tom and Martin – and more so yet to Oliver, who made it into the final four in last year's championship-winning car."

In a dominant display from Audi, Timo Scheider took fifth on the grid, while Markus Winkelhock, Alex Premat and Mike Rockenfeller also took year old cars to positions inside the top ten.

There was also reason to celebrate for female racer Katherine Legge, who secured her best qualifying performance to date in 13th place and was quickest female ahead of Mercedes driver Susie Stoddart.

"That was a great team performance," Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich said. "Six Audi cars among the top eight – this is something we can really be proud of. It emphasises that our squad has been doing an outstanding job since the finale in October 2008.

“Mattias Ekstrom delivered a convincing qualifying performance. Timo just fell short of a couple of thousandths. If that happens to a driver with his potential, it shows how close the results are in the DTM."