Di Resta takes first '09 win at Brands

Date published : 06 Sep 2009 - 13:34:51

Paul di Resta took his first DTM victory of the season on home soil at Brands Hatch on Sunday.The Mercedes driver led throughout the race, but he did have to survive two late restarts, which wiped out his lead of more than six seconds back to Timo Scheider.While Katherine Legge was between the top two on the first restart, Scheider had a clear run at the Scot on the second, which came with just two laps to go.Despite the pressure, di Resta kept his cool to take the victory, while Scheider extended his championship lead over Mattias Ekstrom and Gary Paffett with second place.Martin Tomczyk took third after showing impressive pace throughout the afternoon. He had been ahead of Scheider after the pitstops, but allowed his team-mate through into Graham Hill Bend, and then protected him from Paffett to the flag.Paffett finished fourth despite a couple of late challenges from Ekstrom, who was a distant fifth prior to the first safety car period, having lost ground during the pit stops.Bruno Spengler ran as high as third in the early stages, but he had a scrappy race and lost a lot of time during the pit stops, which eventually dropped him down to sixth place.The Canadian's finishing position was in doubt for a while, as he was placed under investigation in the closing stages regarding Tom Kristensen's accident that triggered the second safety car, and cost the Dane a points finish. But the stewards decided not to take action against Spengler.Kristensen had struggled in the race, losing ground to the leaders early on before dropping back to sixth during the pit stops, and his race eventually ended with a heavy impact into the tyre wall at Clearways.Mike Rockenfeller stayed out of trouble to get into the points in seventh, while Oliver Jarvis recovered from a spin caused by Jamie Green to take the final point.The Briton's cause was helped in the closing stages when Ralf Schumacher clattered into Markus Winkelhock and Maro Engel at Druids, which allowed Jarvis back into the points.Pos Driver Car Time 1. Paul di Resta Mercedes 1h10m31.345s 2. Timo Scheider Audi +0.896 3. Martin Tomczyk Audi +1.422 4. Gary Paffett Mercedes +1.880 5. Mattias Ekstrom Audi +2.264 6. Bruno Spengler Mercedes +5.048 7. Mike Rockenfeller Audi +6.646 8. Oliver Jarvis Audi +7.197 9. Ralf Schumacher Mercedes +7.73310. Maro Engel Mercedes +10.62211. Alexandre Premat Audi +1 lap12. Jamie Green Mercedes +1 lap13. Susie Stoddart Mercedes +1 lap14. Tomas Kostka Audi +1 lap15. Katherine Legge Audi +1 lap16. Christian Bakkerud Audi +2 laps17. Johannes Seidlitz Audi +4 laps18. Markus Winkelhock Audi +9 laps19. Tom Kristensen Audi +10 laps20. Mathias Lauda Mercedes +18 lapsFastest lap: Di Resta, 42.387 on lap 3