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Ralf Schumacher took his maiden DTM pole position in qualifying for this weekend's race at the Norisring.

The ex-grand prix driver shone throughout the session. He topped the times in Q1, was third in Q2, and then just made it into the Q4 pole position shootout with the fourth fastest time.

That meant he ran first of the four drivers gunning for pole, but Jamie Green, Martin Tomczyk, and championship leader Bruno Spengler all failed to beat his benchmark.

Spengler - a two-time Norisring winner - was on course to beat Schumacher's time after the first two sectors of the 1.4-mile lap, but he locked a wheel at the final corner, and had to settle for second on the grid.

Green will bid to win a third straight Norisring race from third, while Tomczyk was the slowest of the Q4 runners after brushing the wall at the exit of the chicane. He will lead the Audi charge from fourth.

Behind him, Audi's Mattias Ekstrom and Oliver Jarvis completed the top six, while the fourth row is an all-Mercedes affair with Gary Paffett and Paul di Resta.

Reigning champion Timo Scheider had another difficult Saturday as he was knocked out in Q2. The German will start 10th for Audi, just behind the 2008-spec Mercedes of Maro Engel.

Hell ya!