Paffett wins in China – Paul Di Resta is the champion

Paul Di Resta secured the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters title 2010 in a red flagged race on the streets of Shanghai. The Scotsman finished second behind race winner Gary Paffett who moved up in to second in the championship thanks to his victory.

The red flags were brought out on lap 50 after contact between Mike Rockenfeller and Susie Stoddart. Rockenfeller turned Stoddart around, resulting in the both cars stranded across the track and blocking the racing line.

With over 75 % of the race run, the organizers decided to end the race rather than resuming it after clearing the two cars.

The race was rather uneventful before the accident. Di Resta lost the lead to Paffett after a lengthy first pitstop where the mechanics had problems with the right rear tyre.

After the first stops Paffett was on his own for the lead. Things were worse for the third championship contender Bruno Spengler. The Canadian came to China leading the championship, but was to leave China as third in the championship.

Spengler started 17th on the grid after crashing both in practice and qualifying. The Mercedes-driver managed to get up in to 13th place before the race was red flagged, meaning that he scored zero points and lost positions in the championship to both Di Resta and Paffett.

While the race was spared from crashes, apart from the one that ended the race, there was drama before the race. The start was delayed with 10 minutes due to track invaders. As those persons were removed, the race was started behind safety car as previously announced by the organizers due to track concerns.

Timo Scheider claimed the last podium of the year in third. The Audi-driver was closing in on Di Resta towards the end, but was four seconds behind when the red flags were brought out.

Martin Tomczyk finished fourth ahead of Miguel Molina and Jamie green. Markus Winkelhock crossed the line ahead of David Coulthard, who managed to score his first ever DTM points finish in the last race of the year.

Di Resta ended on top in the championship on 71 points, Paffett passed Spengler with the smallest possible margin, one point, to take second in the championship after a remarkable consistent season, scoring points in all races.

Spengler dropped to third on 66 points ahead of best Audi-driver Scheider in fourth on 53 points.