Paul di Resta closes in on championship lead: “My confidence is growing”

Mercedes AMG’s Paul di Resta scored two podium finishes at Zandvoort to crawl his way up to second place in the championship, 27 points behind team-mate Gary Paffett, with the Scot now a key contender for the title.

The Stuttgart-based manufacturer continued their triumphant march in this year’s DTM, with six victories from ten races and a comfortable lead in all the championships.

Di Resta finished second on Saturday and third on Sunday at Zandvoort, overtaking BMW’s Timo Glock for second place in the championship: “We had a perfect day with a perfect weather, we could have done with having more overtaking, but the pressure was on us from the qualifying and we did our best,” the Scot said to TouringCarTimes.

Di Resta is the only driver among the 18 entries to have scored points in all races held so far, winning Race 1 in Hungary’s round three of the season. “I didn’t attack Gary after the safety car for obvious reasons. A third position for me is a strong finish in DTM. Scoring points in every race is key in this championship, and so far I’ve managed to do that,” added the Team HWA driver.

Di Resta was crowned champion back in 2010 after battling with Paffett and then team-mate Bruno Spengler. The Scot believes the battle between the two will be served again this season: “I think we can fight against each other like we did back in 2010. I could do with a bit more luck on my side. The main thing is to keep ourselves in contention and I think I’ve done that this weekend and the confidence is growing.”