Setting a great pace in Qualifying to start 8^th on the grid, it was no less than the fourth time this year that the 24 year old was the best driver of a year old car.  In fact, having clinched third place in the second qualifying session, he was subsequently the only driver of a ‘used’ car to make into the last qualifying segment. 

Oliver Jarvis is no stranger to winning on this Dutch circuit having won there only last September when he was driving for A1 Team GBR in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.This, his first time in DTM’s at Zandvoort driving in the sixth round of the popular German touring car series for Audi Sport, he was optimistic for a points finish in a race that was ultimately dominated by Audi as they notched up a 1-2-3-4 finish with Swedish Mattias Ekstorm emerging the winner. 

But for Oliver, a gearbox problem hampered his chances and forced him to retire before the end of the race.

The disappointed young Brit said, “I had a bad start.  The two stops were perfect on the team’s part.  Unfortunately after returning to the track I was slowed by another car both times.  In the end, I was forced to retire because of a gearbox problem.  What we take with us from here is a strong qualifying result.  We want to build on that next time in Nurburgring.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Pheonix) says, “So far, we’ve always clinched good results at Zandvoort.  This time we were hit by a double dose of misfortune: both cars (including Oliver’s team-mate Alex Premat) retired from the race.  Now we need to analyse the weekend and then go to the Nürburgring with renewed energy."