17th October, 2010
Di Resta wins at Hockenheim and takes over DTM points’ lead
DTM
Hockenheim. Sheer tension during the battle for the DTM title at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. Mercedes-Benz driver Paul Di Resta again showed himself in an excellent shape and was able to celebrate his third race win in a row. Thus, the Scot toppled his fellow Mercedes-Benz driver Bruno Spengler, who had been in the lead so far, from first place in the drivers’ standings. The Canadian retired on lap 23 due to problems with the left rear wheel. “Today, it was a surprising victory. The start wasn’t great, but the car was unbeatable and the speed was simply incredible. Fortunately, I was still able to catch Timo Scheider. Of course, finishing in front of him was particularly important. We hope that we an now stay on top. It is quite a close call between Bruno and me. However, I am now full of confidence and I will do my best”, said Di Resta after the sixth victory of his career in the DTM.
Behind Di Resta, two Audi drivers were happy with second and third place. Timo Scheider started from pole position, led the race for a long time and eventually only was beaten by the new points’ leader Di Resta. “Second place in the last round of the season in Germany is all right. Of course, I had hoped for more. But you can’t wish anything in motorsport, where performance is the only thing that counts. For next year, we have to keep the performance from the last couple of races”, said the 2009 DTM champion. Mike Rockenfeller also showed himself in a good shape and still made it onto the podium after finishing third as the best-placed driver of a 2008-spec car. British driver Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz), who is also still involved in the battle for the title, ended up fourth in the last DTM race of the season in Germany. Di Resta is now leading in the drivers’ standings with 63 points from Spengler (60) and Paffett (49).
One thing is certain: after the early retirement of Audi driver Mattias Ekström, a driver of an AMG Mercedes C-Class will be the new DTM champion for the first time in three years. The champion will come from the ranks of the Mercedes-Benz drivers for the ninth time in 24 years.
The tenth DTM race weekend of the year will be taking place at Adria in Italy from October 29th till 31st.
Head of motorsport Mercedes-Benz Norbert Haug: “This success really makes us feel well. We had a perfect strategy and we witnessed a very exciting race. Now, we know that we will win the title. However, I think that we will only find out in Shanghai who will be the new DTM champion. We will have a small party tonight, though.”
Head of motorsport Audi Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: “After Eki had retired, it was clear to us that we wouldn’t be able to go for the title anymore. We still had hopes of wining the race. At the start of the season, we had a good performance, but we have given away too many points. Halfway through the season, we had a low in which the performance wasn’t right. Now, we are back at the right performance level again.”
