Tomczyk secures super-pole at Hockenheim.

22-year-old Martin Tomczyk secured pole position in qualifying for the tenth and final championship race of the 2004 DTM season.

The German clocked a time of 1m 35.852s in his Audi A4 DTM around the 4.574-kilometre-long Hockenheimring.

"I'm very pleased with pole position," he said. "Whilst I was still on the track I was sooner reckoning with fifth place as I had made a few small mistakes. I'm out to win tomorrow."

Hot on his heels followed a trio of Mercedes-Benz drivers - Bernd Schneider (1m 35.865s), just 13 thousandths of a second behind, will start tomorrow's race from the first row next to Tomczyk.

"This second place is thanks to my team," noted Schneider.

"They changed something on the car for qualifying and then everything was just right. I'm pleased that we're slowly getting it back together again and I'm also very satisfied with the set-up of the car."

Third and fourth position was secured by Frenchman Jean Alesi and Gary Paffett. Paffett (51 points) is in a better position than his team-mate Christijan Albers (48 points) in the battle for the runner-up title. Albers will contest the race from ninth position. A mere 0.078 seconds split the first driver from the fourth-placed.

"I'm very satisfied with my third place," stated Alesi. "It was a long haul for us but everything came together well today.

"We had difficulty with the changing grip conditions. Yesterday we had dry and wet conditions. That makes it difficult to prepare oneself for the track."

The new champion Mattias Ekstr?m enters the race in fifth position in his Audi A4 DTM.

The two Opel drivers Marcel F?ssler and Peter Dumbreck will start in sixth and seventh position in their Vectra GTS V8s. F?ssler is separated from pole position by just two tenths of a second.

"I had a very good and consistent lap in the super pole," commented Fassler. "Although it wasn't earth shattering, I was nevertheless able to improve on my position. I've just missed out on a podium finish twice so far so I finally want to manage it tomorrow. I may pull it off with a good start."

Dane Tom Kristensen (38 points) can still clinch third place in the overall standings in the finale. He starts in eighth.

"I'm pleased with Martin's pole position and must admit that there's actually nothing more exciting than the DTM's super pole," summed up Audi Motorsport director, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich.

"All those who are battling it out for the first 10 positions are inordinately strong. I'm proud to be a part of it and proud to be in front. Mattias Ekstr?m had a bit of a battle on his hands with lessening grip, he didn't make a mistake. At any rate, I'm convinced we're poised for a hot race."

Mercedes-Benz boss Norbert Haug added: "It was very exciting. Those 78 thousandths between the first four drivers is possibly the narrowest gap we've ever had, especially given it was on this pretty long course. Jean Alesi, Bernd Schneider and Gary Paffett were headed for pole position and just missed out on it. But who knows, maybe we can change it in the race.

"I'm particularly pleased that Bernd once again showed us what he's capable of. From a sporting point of view we're witnessing the best-ever DTM with more spectators than ever before."