Bathgate’s Paul di Resta will start fifth on the grid in his Mercedes for tomorrow’s second round of the DTM Championship in Valencia after narrowly missing out on the top four shoot-out.
The 24-year-old Scot, back on DTM duty after back-to-back Formula One duty as reserve driver with Force India at Barcelona and Monaco, was frustrated to miss out on the shoot-out for pole.
“I only missed out on a top four slot by just 0.038secs,” Di Resta, who finished fourth in the opening round at Hockenheim last month, said today, “and that’s hugely frustrating because i think I had a car fast enough for pole position.
“But at least we know we have a car capable of being right in the mix for tomorrow’s race and hopefully I can get not just my first podium finish of the year, but also my first win.”
Audi’s former champ Mattias Ekstrom starts from pole after edging out the Mercedes of Canadian Bruno Spengler by just 0.016s. English duo Oliver Jarvis and Gary Paffett start third and fourth respectively in their Audi and Mercedes.
Former F1 winner David Coulthard improved on his miserable qualifying at Hockenheim. The 39-year-old Scot made it into Q2 for the first time. The Twynholm racer will share the seventh row of the grid with fellow grand prix winner Ralf Schumacher.
JM