Robert Wickens ‘speechless’ at maiden DTM pole

Mercedes’ Robert Wickens said he was “speechless” after taking his maiden DTM career pole at the Norisring on Saturday.

The HWA driver had been on the pace throughout all four qualifying sessions, and managed to beat compatriot Bruno Spengler by a mere 0.015 seconds to take the first pole position of his DTM career.

“As I was getting out of the car, I couldn’t hear anything on the radio, but Gary came up to me and said: ‘Excellent, P1′! At first, I was speechless,” said Wickens. “The Norisring is a very special circuit for me. I scored my very first DTM points here in last year’s race, and now it’s the place where I secured my first DTM pole position. That’s a fabulous feeling.”

Wickens’ HWA team-mate, Gary Paffett, who despite making it into the pole position shoot out, finished third behind the two Canadians.

The Briton praised the entire HWA team’s performance, as five Mercedes C-Coupes occupy the top-10 after what was until the Lausitzring, a difficult first half of the season.

“That was a brilliant performance by Robert. He drove very fast from the very first minute of practice,” said Paffett. “Five Mercedes-Benz drivers in the Top 10 is a fantastic team result for us.”

“The entire team is currently producing first-class work.”