Bathgate’s Paul Di Resta finished top Mercedes driver in the opening round of the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) at Hockenheim, but the 22-year-old was outpaced by four rival Audis.
Di Resta, who was pipped to the title last season when Audi ganged up against him in the season finale to ensure Timo Scheider won the championship, started sixth on the grid. But the Scot’s HWA Mercedes was consistently a few tenths a lap slower than the leading Audis who had locked out the front five slots on the grid in qualifying.
“Of course it’s disappointing not to have been more competitive,” Di Resta, who eventually finished fifth, 21.832secs behind race winner Tom Kristensen, admitted today, “but we know we have a solid platform from which to develop.
“It’s also better than last season when we finished 13th here, and despite that I was able to take the fight for the championship down to the last race. Already I’m four points better off than I was at this stage last year.
“I know the team will work hard to improve the performance of the car before the next round at Lausitz in a fortnight and I’m confident we’ll be able to fight for the victory then.”
Di Resta wasn’t the only driver left disappointed. Swede Mattias Ekstrom comfortably led the bulk of the 39-lap race from pole position, opening a 10sec lead in his Audi, before he was forced to pit at the start of the final lap when his left rear tyre fell apart.
The former champ returned to finish seventh while Kristensen, who announced last week he will retire from DTM at the end of the season, held on to beat 2008 champ Scheider by just 0.353s. England’s Oliver Jarvis was third in a 2008 Audi.
JM