DTM: Brands Hatch

[Plex]

Di Resta ends Mercedes' pole drought

Paul di Resta took Mercedes' first DTM pole position of the season after a commanding performance in qualifying at Brands Hatch.

The Scottish driver set the pace in three of the four segments of qualifying, including the crucial four-way shootout for pole, where he edged Timo Scheider by less than one tenth of a second.

Tom Kristensen took third ahead of Bruno Spengler, who was unable to capitalise on being the last man to take to the track in the final session.

Nurburgring race winner Martin Tomczyk will line up fifth ahead of former champion Gary Paffett, while Mattias Ekstrom is seventh ahead of the top 2008 car of Jamie Green.

Oliver Jarvis was disappointed to be ninth after missing out on Q3 by five thousandths of a second, but he was still the fastest driver in a 2008-spec Audi, just in front of Markus Winkelhock.

Ralf Schumacher survived a scare in Q1 after he was baulked by Johannes Seidlitz while he was set to be eliminated from the session, but he bounced back to make it into Q2, and eventually qualified 11th.

Pos Driver Car Time
1. Paul di Resta Mercedes 41.750s
2. Timo Scheider Audi 41.831s
3. Tom Kristensen Audi 41.837s
4. Bruno Spengler Mercedes 41.938s
5. Martin Tomczyk Audi 41.777s
6. Gary Paffett Mercedes 41.825s
7. Mattias Ekstrom Audi 41.855s
8. Jamie Green Mercedes 41.986s
9. Oliver Jarvis Audi 41.773s
10. Markus Winkelhock Audi 41.821s
11. Ralf Schumacher Mercedes 41.896s
12. Mike Rockenfeller Audi 42.035s
13. Maro Engel Mercedes 42.463s
14. Susie Stoddart Mercedes 42.602s
15. Alexandre Premat Audi 42.258s
16. Katherine Legge Audi 42.294s
17. Mathias Lauda Mercedes 42.322s
18. Tomas Kostka Audi 42.786s
19. Christian Bakkerud Audi 43.111s
20. Johannes Seidlitz Audi 43.438s

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[Plex]

Di Resta takes first '09 win at Brands

Paul di Resta took his first DTM victory of the season on home soil at Brands Hatch on Sunday.

The Mercedes driver led throughout the race, but he did have to survive two late restarts, which wiped out his lead of more than six seconds back to Timo Scheider.

While Katherine Legge was between the top two on the first restart, Scheider had a clear run at the Scot on the second, which came with just two laps to go.

Despite the pressure, di Resta kept his cool to take the victory, while Scheider extended his championship lead over Mattias Ekstrom and Gary Paffett with second place.

Martin Tomczyk took third after showing impressive pace throughout the afternoon. He had been ahead of Scheider after the pitstops, but allowed his team-mate through into Graham Hill Bend, and then protected him from Paffett to the flag.

Paffett finished fourth despite a couple of late challenges from Ekstrom, who was a distant fifth prior to the first safety car period, having lost ground during the pit stops.

Bruno Spengler ran as high as third in the early stages, but he had a scrappy race and lost a lot of time during the pit stops, which eventually dropped him down to sixth place.

The Canadian's finishing position may be in doubt, though, as he was placed under investigation in the closing stages regarding Tom Kristensen's accident that triggered the second safety car, and cost the Dane a points finish.

Kristensen had struggled in the race, losing ground to the leaders early on before dropping back to sixth during the pit stops, and his race eventually ended with a heavy impact into the tyre wall at Clearways.

Mike Rockenfeller stayed out of trouble to get into the points in seventh, while Oliver Jarvis recovered from a spin caused by Jamie Green to take the final point.

The Briton's cause was helped in the closing stages when Ralf Schumacher clattered into Markus Winkelhock and Maro Engel at Druids, which allowed Jarvis back into the points.

Pos Driver Car Time
1. Paul di Resta Mercedes 1h10m31.345s
2. Timo Scheider Audi +0.896
3. Martin Tomczyk Audi +1.422
4. Gary Paffett Mercedes +1.880
5. Mattias Ekstrom Audi +2.264
6. Bruno Spengler Mercedes +5.048
7. Mike Rockenfeller Audi +6.646
8. Oliver Jarvis Audi +7.197
9. Ralf Schumacher Mercedes +7.733
10. Maro Engel Mercedes +10.622
11. Alexandre Premat Audi +1 lap
12. Jamie Green Mercedes +1 lap
13. Susie Stoddart Mercedes +1 lap
14. Tomas Kostka Audi +1 lap
15. Katherine Legge Audi +1 lap
16. Christian Bakkerud Audi +2 laps
17. Johannes Seidlitz Audi +4 laps
18. Markus Winkelhock Audi +9 laps
19. Tom Kristensen Audi +10 laps
20. Mathias Lauda Mercedes +18 laps

Fastest lap: Di Resta, 42.387 on lap 3

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