The top 10 DTM drivers of 2010

10. Oliver Jarvis

The Briton's promotion to a new car came at the worst possible time, as Audi was plunged into crisis with the new for 2010 Dunlop tyres.

Jarvis was on course for a podium at Valencia until he suffered a late race fuel pump failure, and like Tomczyk he was put on the backburner as far as Audi's priorities were concerned. After that, the pair were pretty evenly matched for the rest of the year.

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9. Martin Tomczyk

It's easy to forget how well Tomczyk started the year. He was leading the opener until suffering a spectacular puncture, and went from ninth to second at Valencia but was later excluded. 18 points after two races would have left him the clear leader in the championship.

While Audi probably wouldn't have been able to keep him there, it might have prioritised him over the likes of Scheider and Ekstrom who led its charge for most of the year.

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8. Mattias Ekstrom

The Swede led Audi admirably when it was in the worst of its tyre woes early in the year, and he was in the right place at the right time to chalk up a Valencia victory. But he slid towards the lower reaches of the top 10 as the year wore on, which got him caught up in more incidents.

He impressed the NASCAR fraternity on a road course and an oval later in the campaign, but maybe that was a distraction? The fact that Audi nipped it in the bud suggests so.

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7. Miguel Molina

Audi raved about its new signing pre-season, referring to "Magic Molina" before he'd even started a race. The Spaniard took a while to settle in, but once he did, he looked at home.

He showed good pace and the ability to remain fast and consistent over long runs, which led to Audi giving him some interesting strategies. His late pitstops often vaulted him up the order as he maintained good pace on old tyres.

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6. Mike Rockenfeller

The German's fourth year in the DTM was by far his best so far as he switched from Team Rosberg to Team Phoenix. The 2010 Le Mans 24 hours winner had shown speed in the past, but far too sporadically.

This year he was regularly impressive, and is understandably itching to get into a top car. His front row start and podium finish at Hockenheim were particularly impressive.

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5. Bruno Spengler

After his first ever good start to a season, Spengler was 17 points clear of di Resta and Paffett after five races. It seemed to be no more than a case of keeping his head from there to bring home the title. He initially settled in to the role of following di Resta home, but he hit the self-destruct button with incidents at Hockenheim and in China that were self-inflicted.

He went round the paddock in China trying to get the other drivers to agree that the finale shouldn't count for points, without success. And he knew better than to call on di Resta and Paffett for support.

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4. Timo Scheider

The defending champion was nowhere early in the season, as he struggled to adapt to the new Dunlop tyres. Issues in his private life didn't help, and that slow start left him too far adrift to ever be a threat in the title run-in.

When he recovered from his early-year woes he was the lead Audi driver yet again by mid-season. His win from 15th at Adria was well-deserved, and there could have been more were it not for stalling from pole at Zandvoort and a puncture at Oschersleben while he was nip and tuck with race winner di Resta.

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3. Gary Paffett

Three wins was another good haul for the 2005 champion, who finished as runner-up in the standings for the third time. He had the speed at times, but he is the first to admit that there were too many days where he didn't hit the peaks achieved by di Resta.

He put that down to struggling to find a good handling balance in qualifying mid-season, but his ability to bring it home in the points in every race kept him in the title hunt until the end.

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2. Jamie Green

The former HWA Mercedes driver adapted well to his demotion to an old car last year, and took things up a notch in 2010. Green made Q4 six times out of 11 races, and could have had more than three podiums if he was allowed to race for himself rather than staying out of the way of the 2009-spec cars.

A third Norisring win in a row was thoroughly deserved, and a promotion back to the top team has to be on the cards, providing there is a space.

1. Paul di Resta

The Scot was by far the fastest driver this year, proved by the stunning pace he unleashed on his way to three wins in a row mid-season. In the end, his relentless ability to churn out results seemed to get to Spengler.

Di Resta's only non-scores came from being driven into by Audis, and a fluffed pitstop by his team at Lausitz handed Spengler a win and a crucial points swing early in the year.