Di Resta Wins at Hockenheim, Takes DTM Points Lead

We don't know if Paul di Resta will eventually make it to Formula One next season, but in the meantime the Scottish driver made yet another step towards securing his first DTM title in career. Tackling the Hockenheim round last weekend with a 7-point deficit from Mercedes teammate and championship leader Bruno Spengler, Di Resta scored his 3rd consecutive win this season and grabbed the lead in the overall classification.

Di Resta moved quickly to pass Alexandre Premat for 4th place at the start, after which his strategy was to remain on the track for a long as possible. While everybody in front of him pitted, he decided to continue on used tires and, luckily for him, managed to even improve his lap times as compared to his rivals.

In the end, his late first pit stop got him to 2nd overall, behind reigning champion Timo Scheider. He used the same strategy with the Audi ace also and, after the second round of pit stops, he grabbed the lead and never looked back. Eventually, the Scottish driver won by more than 10 seconds, ahead of Scheider and Audi privateer Mike Rockenfeller (who drove a 2008-spec car).

Gary Paffett had to settle for 4th place in the end, despite having started pretty strong. His lack of pace throughout the race almost cost him that spot, as he managed to hold off a group of cars behind him, from Audi's Martin Tomczyk and Oliver Jarvis to Merc's Susie Stoddart and Jamie Green.

The best news for Di Resta was, however, that Spengler had to retire from the Hockenheim race after 24 laps. After causing a major pile-up in the first lap – as a result of which only 10 cars remained in the race – the Canadian driver experienced suspension problems during Lap 20 and, 4 laps later, decided to call it a day.

This means Di Resta's point advantage with one round to go in the 2010 campaign is 3 points from Spengler, these two being the only racers battling for the title in Shanghai.