Di Resta on front row of grid 28 | 06 | 2014

BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA will start tomorrow's German Touring Car (DTM) Championship race at the Norisring from the front row of the grid.

The 28-year-old Scot held provisional pole position with just a few minutes of the session remaining after posting a fastest time of 47.976secs on the 1.4-mile street circuit.

But he was denied the No1 grid slot for the first time since his return from Formula One, when Mercedes-Benz team-mate Robert Wickens eventually outpaced him.

First the Canadian, who also started from pole in the corresponding race 12 months ago, clocked a 47.959s, before lowering the benchmark even further with a 47.883s on his final run.

"We were seriously fast today," Di Resta, the 2010 DTM champion admitted afterwards. "We've struggled for pace so far this year, but we knew the Mercedes cars would be fast here this weekend.

"We've done a lot of the hard work today by getting ourselves on the front row of the grid. Now we have to turn this position into a race win tomorrow."

Such was Mercedes' dominance at the Norisring that it has five cars which will start in the top six of the 23-car grid.

Related: Paul di Resta edged off DTM podium

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Jim McGill