DTM Hockenheim: Ex-F1 racer Paul di Resta takes dominant win
Paul di Resta scored his first DTM win in six years at Hockenheim with a dominant performance in race two of the 2016 season on Sunday
The Mercedes driver made a strong start from pole and maintained a steady gap to Gary Paffett, until the Englishman was given a drive through penalty for an unsafe release in the pits.
From there, di Resta had a simple task as he drove away from Timo Glock to take the victory and move to the top of the drivers' standings.
Glock claimed second in a strong race for BMW, which also had Augustus Farfus in third and Maxime Martin in fourth.
The safety car was deployed almost immediately after the start following a three-way crash between Esteban Ocon, Jamie Green and Bruno Spengler.
At the re-start Paffett, who started third, made his way past Farfus to take second but he struggled to reel in di Resta.
However, it looked like Paffett would take the lead when di Resta had a slow stop due to a right-front tyre issue, but the Scotsman just about held on as Paffett struggled in traffic.
Minutes later, Paffett's race was ruined as he was penalised for an unsafe release, allowing di Resta to drive away from the scrapping Farfus and Glock.
Paffett emerged in 11th after his penalty and then charged back through the field to claim fifth, crossing the line just behind the BMWs that trailed di Resta.
Nico Muller was the highest finishing Audi in ninth, in a race where the manufacturer's cars carried an extra 10kg.
Muller's Audi team-mate, race one winner Edoardo Mortara, was caught up in the three-way first-lap crash and was knocked down to 21st, although he battled back to 12th.
Mattias Ekstrom, who won in the World Rallycross Championship this weekend, couldn't complete a magnificent double as he retired due to car damage.
RESULTS - 37 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Paul Di Resta | Mercedes | 1h01m42.654s |
2 | Augusto Farfus | BMW | 13.905s |
3 | Maxime Martin | BMW | 14.493s |
4 | Gary Paffett | Mercedes | 15.055s |
5 | Robert Wickens | Mercedes | 19.377s |
6 | Tom Blomqvist | BMW | 21.690s |
7 | Nico Muller | Audi | 22.220s |
8 | Marco Wittmann | BMW | 23.790s |
9 | Martin Tomczyk | BMW | 24.454s |
10 | Mike Rockenfeller | Audi | 31.303s |
11 | Edoardo Mortara | Audi | 50.053s |
12 | Maximilian Gotz | Mercedes | 56.722s |
13 | Adrien Tambay | Audi | 1m02.408s |
14 | Christian Vietoris | Mercedes | 1m05.985s |
15 | Lucas Auer | Mercedes | 2 Laps |
16 | Daniel Juncadella | Mercedes | 8 Laps |
- | Timo Glock | BMW | Disqualified |
- | Miguel Molina | Audi | Retirement |
- | Timo Scheider | Audi | Retirement |
- | Mattias Ekstrom | Audi | Retirement |
- | Antonio Felix da Costa | BMW | Retirement |
- | Bruno Spengler | BMW | Retirement |
- | Esteban Ocon | Mercedes | Retirement |
- | Jamie Green | Audi | Retirement |
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS:
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Paul Di Resta | 37 |
2 | Robert Wickens | 28 |
3 | Edoardo Mortara | 25 |
4 | Nico Muller | 21 |
5 | Maxime Martin | 19 |
6 | Augusto Farfus | 18 |
7 | Gary Paffett | 12 |
8 | Christian Vietoris | 10 |
9 | Tom Blomqvist | 8 |
10 | Bruno Spengler | 8 |
11 | Antonio Felix da Costa | 6 |
12 | Marco Wittmann | 4 |
13 | Martin Tomczyk | 2 |
14 | Mattias Ekstrom | 2 |
15 | Mike Rockenfeller | 1 |
15 | Miguel Molina | 1 |
17 | Maximilian Gotz | 0 |
18 | Adrien Tambay | 0 |
19 | Lucas Auer | 0 |
20 | Jamie Green | 0 |
21 | Daniel Juncadella | 0 |
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