Bathgate’s Paul Di Resta will need to charge through from fourth on the grid at Le Mans in France if he is to record back-to-back victories and boost his hopes of lifting the German Touring Car Championship for the first time.
And the 22-year-old Scot, who won last time out in Barcelona and was fastest in the final practice session this morning, was made to sweat in the closing second of the second qualifying session when his mechanics pushed his Mercedes back into the garage.
“It was nothing major, but it meant we weren’t able to go out again in that session,” Di Resta explained. “The main thing though was we got through to the final session, but I’m disappointed not to be further up the grid.”
Di Resta, second in the championship just seven points behind the Audi of Timo Scheider, clocked a fastest time of 1min 30.379secs round the shorter 2.5-mile Bugatti circuit at Le Mans.
The Scot, who lines up alongside the Audi of former champ Mattias Ekstrom and behind fellow Merc racer Jamie Green, was just 0.230s off the pole set by the Audi of Dane Tom Kristensen.
“It’s going to be crucial that I get a good start and can leapfrog Mattias early in the race,” Di Resta, who lines up immediately ahead of Scheider, continued. “After that I can set about putting Tom under pressure and then see what happens.
“There’s only one more race after this weekend, so it’s crucial that I score as many points as possible to make sure we’re still in with a chance when we go to Hockenheim for the final race.”
JM