Oliver Jarvis continued his impressive pre-season form in qualifying for the first round of the 2008 DTM campaign at Hockenheim this weekend, by becoming the only driver in older-spec machinery to make it through to the final knock-out session.
The 24-year-old Briton ultimately ended up eighth on the grid, just over a second shy of pole-sitter Timo Scheider and a similar margin
under the lap record. What's more, in doing so he out-paced five-time former champion Bernd Schneider – and is now looking to convert that pace and potential into points on race day.
“I'm absolutely delighted with my qualifying performance,” the Audi Sport Team Phoenix rookie enthused, “and hopefully I can go on and have a strong race.
“I was the only driver of a 2007 model to make it through to the third and final part of qualifying which, considering my lack of testing in the Audi combined with lack of experience here at Hockenheim, is very encouraging.
“It was really pretty tough! I could hardly believe how quickly the various sections were over. The qualifying format is very demanding – you've got to constantly drive at the limit and can be pleased if you manage two trials in one session.”
Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich was similarly pleased with his young charge's efforts.
“Oliver, who is new to the unique atmosphere of the DTM, new to Audi and new to Hockenheim, did an outstanding job in qualifying,” the German praised. “You cannot over-emphasise that – in his first DTM qualifying of his career he finished among the top eight. He can rightfully be proud of this."
![Bernd Schneider - Original-Teile AMG Mercedes [pic credit: DTM Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/318574.jpg)
