Win keeps di Resta's title hopes alive

The Scot was made to work hard for his second career win, though, as he had to chase Scheider through the first part of the race.

The pair had both passed Bernd Schneider at the start and the gap between them was never more than a few tenths. Di Resta eventually got close enough to attack and he dived down the inside at the end of the back straight.

The pair made light contact side-to-side, but the Mercedes was ahead on the exit and di Resta then set about slowly extending the gap to the finish.

Scheider minimised the damage in the championship by taking second, meaning that he still leads the standings by seven points with two races to go.

Schneider held off race-long pressure from Martin Tomczyk to take third, while Mattias Ekstrom came through a chaotic final lap to complete the top five.

The final lap began with Ekstrom pushing Jamie Green into a spin at Turn One. The Brit was able to catch the Swede before the end of the lap though, as Ekstrom battled an ailing car.

The pair then went through the final chicane section side-by-side, making contact several times before Ekstrom ran Green out wide on the exit and forced him into the gravel.

That delay cost Green two further places as the year-old Audis of Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Premat also got through.

Immediately after the race Ekstrom was given a 50-second penalty for the contact with Green on the last lap, which dropped him to ninth place and promoted Ralf Schumacher into the points.

But following consideration after Audi appealed the decision, the stewards decided to exclude the double-champion all together and give Green a 30s penalty (click here for more on this story).

Pos Driver               Car                    Gap    
 1. Paul di Resta        Mercedes       1:07:42.884
 2. Timo Scheider        Audi                +4.531
 3. Bernd Schneider      Mercedes           +11.751
 4. Martin Tomczyk       Audi               +15.785
 5. Mike Rockenfeller    Audi               +35.613
 6. Alexandre Premat     Audi               +35.715
 7. Ralf Schumacher      Mercedes         +1:05.969
 8. Jamie Green          Mercedes         +1:06.504
 9. Oliver Jarvis        Audi                +1 lap
10. Christijan Albers    Audi                +1 lap
11. Markus Winkelhock    Audi                +1 lap
12. Tom Kristensen       Audi                +1 lap
13. Maro Engel           Mercedes            +1 lap

Retirements

    Susie Stoddart       Mercedes           24 laps
    Bruno Spengler       Mercedes           17 laps
    Katherine Legge      Audi               17 laps
    Mathias Lauda        Mercedes            4 laps

Excluded

    Mattias Ekstrom      Audi             +1:24.187

Fastest lap, Kristensen 1:08.422 on lap 5