Paul di Resta regrets lost points chance

R-Motorsport driver Paul di Resta lamented losing an opportunity to score points in Saturday’s DTM race at the Nürburgring after he found his progress through the field halted by one of his rivals on track.

The Scot drove the fastest Aston Martin Vantage DTM in the qualifying session, finishing 14th with a lap less than nine-tenths off the pole position time.

Di Resta made some good progress in the initial stages, but a problem in his pit stop was the first issue with his race.

“I made an excellent start but subsequently got boxed in twice,” said di Resta after the race. “We drove a long first stint, but unfortunately, I lost some time during the pit stop and was then stuck for several laps behind Nico Müller.”

Although Müller was struggling with his tyres after an early pit stop, the superior straight line speed of the Audi RS 5 DTM hampered di Resta’s efforts to overtake.

“His speed on the straights was tremendous, so I couldn’t get past,” di Resta added. “I was within three seconds of Timo Glock (BMW) before pitting, and he finished in the points. If we’d had a clear run, then it’s just possible that we might have had a good race.”

Team principal at R-Motorsport Dr. Florian Kamelger added: “The race showed that we were able to narrow the gap on our rivals. In doing so, Paul raced with his elbows out but finished outside of the points.”