Di Resta secures Lausitz pole
Paul di Resta has taken pole position for Sunday's DTM race at Lausitz as Mercedes locked out the front row in Germany
The Scot held his nerve in the crucial Q4 shootout to set the fastest time, despite having to run first of the top four, while Bruno Spengler snatched second from Audi's Mattias Ekstrom.
Jamie Green, who had topped two of the previous three qualifying segments and ran last in Q4, was on course to take pole after two sectors, but he lost time in the final part of the lap and eventually had to settle for fourth on the grid.
Behind the lead group, the biggest story of qualifying was David Coulthard making it into Q3, while several 2009-spec cars missed the cut.
Coulthard only just scraped through Q2, notably at the expense of former champion Gary Paffett, who was just 0.082 seconds slower than the ex-grand prix driver but had to settle for ninth on the grid.
Ahead of the Scot, Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Premat also shone in 2008-spec machinery, and the pair will sandwich reigning champion Timo Scheider, who lines up sixth on the grid.
The other 2009-spec cars to miss the Q3 cut were the Audis of Martin Tomczyk (10th) and Oliver Jarvis (13th), while another 2008 car to impress was Susie Stoddart, who will start just ahead of Jarvis in 12th.
While Coulthard was grabbing headlines in just his third DTM qualifying session, fellow grand prix winner Ralf Schumacher had a day to forget and will start from the back row of the grid.
Pos Driver Car Time Session 1. Paul di Resta Mercedes 1m18.772s Q4 2. Bruno Spengler Mercedes 1m18.807s Q4 3. Mattias Ekstrom Audi 1m18.973s Q4 4. Jamie Green Mercedes 1m19.024s Q4 5. Mike Rockenfeller Audi 1m18.575s Q3 6. Timo Scheider Audi 1m18.759s Q3 7. Alexandre Premat Audi 1m18.769s Q3 8. David Coulthard Mercedes 1m19.315s Q3 9. Gary Paffett Mercedes 1m18.956s Q2 10. Martin Tomczyk Audi 1m19.354s Q2 11. Miguel Molina Audi 1m19.363s Q2 12. Susie Stoddart Mercedes 1m19.414s Q2 13. Oliver Jarvis Audi 1m19.509s Q2 14. Maro Engel Mercedes 1m19.647s Q2 15. Markus Winkelhock Audi 1m19.638s Q1 16. Franky Cheng Mercedes 1m19.754s Q1 17. Ralf Schumacher Mercedes 1m19.977s Q1 18. Katherine Legge Audi 1m20.649s Q1
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