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Di Resta wins and takes points lead

Paul di Resta took the lead of the DTM standings with his third win in a row at Hockenheim, while his main title rival Bruno Spengler retired

Di Resta ran fourth in the first stint of the race, after working his way past Alexandre Premat on the first lap.

He then ran much longer than the leaders before making his first pitstop, and had the pace even on old tyres to match those he was racing with.

He was up to second behind early leader Timo Scheider's Audi following the first round of stops, and then comfortably jumped the German when the pair pitted for a second time.

Di Resta subsequently cruised away to take a comfortable win, ahead of Scheider and the impressive Mike Rockenfeller in his 2008-spec Audi.

Spengler's race was eventful, but over after 24 laps. The Canadian triggered a multi-car accident at the new Turn 4 on the backstraight on lap one, when he missed his braking point by a big margin. Several other cars then collected the Audi of Miguel Molina, who had been clipped by Spengler on his way through.

The Canadian remained in the hunt for points until lap 20, when he slowed with a suspension problem. He pitted for new tyres and tried to continue as only 10 cars were running at the time, but had to give up eventually.

At the front, Gary Paffett had pressured Rockenfeller early on. But the 2005 champion struggled for pace as the race went on, and spent the final laps holding off a train of cars.

Behind him, Martin Tomczyk came out on top after a race-long fight with Audi team-mate Oliver Jarvis, but neither could find a way by Paffett.

Susie Stoddart was close behind the scrap, followed by Jamie Green. The former race-winner had been a frontrunner until he was given a drive-through penalty for being released into the path of Alexandre Premat in the pits. The clash resulted in Premat, who was having a strong race, being forced to retire with suspension damage.

Di Resta's victory gives him a three-point lead over Spengler in the standings with two races remaining. It also confirms that a Mercedes driver will definitely win the title for the first time since 2006, as only di Resta, Spengler and Paffett are still in contention.

Pos  Driver             Car           Time/Gap
 1.  Paul di Resta      Mercedes  1h07m27.578s
 2.  Timo Scheider      Audi         + 10.532s
 3.  Mike Rockenfeller  Audi         + 14.702s
 4.  Gary Paffett       Mercedes     + 19.541s
 5.  Martin Tomczyk     Audi         + 20.006s
 6.  Oliver Jarvis      Audi         + 20.337s
 7.  Susie Stoddart     Mercedes     + 20.946s
 8.  Jamie Green        Mercedes     + 21.276s
 9.  Maro Engel         Mercedes       + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Bruno Spengler     Mercedes  23 laps
     Alexandre Premat   Audi      14 laps
     Mattias Ekstrom    Audi      7 laps
     David Coulthard    Mercedes  1 lap
     Cong Fu Cheng      Mercedes  1 lap
     Ralf Schumacher    Mercedes  0 laps
     Miguel Molina      Audi      0 laps
     Katherine Legge    Audi      0 laps
     Markus Winkelhock  Audi      0 laps

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