Bathgate’s Paul Di Resta confirmed his position as one of the favourites for this year’s German touring Car Championship (DTM) when he bagged the first pole position of his touring car career by being fastest at the Lausitzring in Germany.
Driving his HWA Mercedes C-Class the 22-year-old, who finished second in the last round a fortnight ago at Mugello in Italy, became the first man other than Audi’s Timo Scheider to take a pole this season.
“I have to thank the team because this weekend the car is the best it has ever been,” Di Resta, the former European Formula 3 champion, said yesterday after lapping the tight and twisty 2.1-mile circuit in 1min 17.628secs.
“You have to take DTM one weekend at a time, but we have been good since the start of practice here and the car has been improving every time we go out. If we can get away well from the start, then hopefully we can bag the first DTM win of my career.”
Di Resta has certainly dominated the weekend. After being fastest in yesterday morning’s practice, he pipped the Merc of Canadian Bruno Spengler to pole by 0.264secs. Championship leader Scheider lines up third, 0.326s behind the Scot.
And while the Merc of Di Resta’s team-mate and Mugello winner Jamie Green qualified fourth, Oban’s Susie Stoddart could only manage 17th, a massive 2.036s behind her countryman.
JM