Di Resta in pole position for DTM titleposted in DTM27 | 11 | 2010
BATHGATE'S PAUL di Resta gave himself the perfect opportunity to clinch his first DTM Championship when he stormed to pole position — his fourth of the year — for tomorrow's season finale in Shanghai.
The 24-year-old's hopes were further boosted when his main rival for the championship, Bruno Spengler, crashed on the new 1.5-mile Chinese street circuit. The Canadian, who leads Mercedes team-mate Di Resta by just three points, starts 17th.
The Scot though faces stiff competition from England's Gary Paffett. The 2005 champ, six points behind Di Resta, lines up alongside him on the front row of the grid in another Mercedes.
The DTM Championship still uses the old Formula One points scoring system, with the winner getting 10 points, then 8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Di Resta knows he must score at least three points more than Spengler; the Scot — runner-up in 2008, when he lost out in the final race of the year — would then take the title having won more races this season than his team-mate.
Paffett meanwhile knows he must win the race and hope Di Resta finishes no higher than seventh and Spengler finishes outside the points. Di Resta though wants to seal his first DTM championship with his fourth race win of the year.
"If I win the race tomorrow, the championship should basically take care of itself," Di Resta, who in the next few weeks is expected to be confirmed as a Force India race driver for 2011, said today.
"Having said that of course, although Bruno's back in 17th we saw in the last F1 grand prix of the season how championships can be won from strange positions.
"There's also been a number of crashes on this circuit already this weekend, so we all know how quickly and easily things can change. Of course I have to be mindful of that, but I'll be concentrating on my race and not taking too many risks.
"I'm obviously in the best position to control the race from pole position. Hopefully I can get away cleanly, stay out of trouble and gradually pull away from the rest of the field.
"All I can do is concentrate on what I do. We need to score points, but I also need to think about the championship. You never know what can happen, so we'll just have to wait and see who is celebrating on Sunday night; but I'm confident."
Di Resta, who was also fastest in this morning's 90-minute practice, has shown himself to be imperious when he gets ahead of the field.
In his wins this season at Brands Hatch, Oscherslaben and Hockenheim he destroyed the opposition with a series of metronomic, blindingly fast laps. If he gets ahead of Paffett into the first corner tomorrow, and settles into his rhythm for the 60-lap race, it's likely he'll be uncatchable.
Di Resta though will be wary of the exceptionally slippery white lines on the circuit which have caused major crashes for Spengler, fellow Mercedes driver Jamie Green and the Audi of reigning champion Timo Scheider. Green and Scheider line up third and fourth respectively on the grid.
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Jim McGill
Caption: Paul celebrates with Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug after clinching pole position in Shanghai.