BATHGATE'S Paul Di Resta delivered a masterful display of driving in atrocious conditions, to power from 12th on the grid to finish second in the latest round of the German Touring Car Championship at the Nurburgring.
In pouring rain, the 22-year-old Scot – now only seven points behind the Audi of Timo Scheider in the championship – overcame another botched pitstop by his crew to narrowly miss out on his second victory of the season.
Having been delayed at his
first pitstop, Di Resta lost the lead to his Mercedes team-mate Bernd Schneider. But after changing to wet tyres as the skies opened, the talented young Scot was clawing the former champ in at five seconds a lap when the chequered flag fell.
"I only needed one more lap and I would have had Bernd," Di Resta explained afterwards. "I know we got delayed on the pitstop again, but the crew made an excellent call on the wet tyres.
"Obviously a win would have been a fantastic result, but we've closed the gap again at the top of the championship and there's everything to play for with only four rounds remaining."
Scheider, who could only manage fifth place, now heads to Brands Hatch in Kent for the next round under intense pressure not only from Di Resta but from fellow Brit Jamie Green who is only four points behind the German.
Meanwhile, Fifer Jonathan Adam stepped up his bid to retain the Seat Cupra Championship when he dominated the latest rounds at Oulton Park in Cheshire by claiming his second-successive double victory.
The talented youngster from Kirkcaldy, who won the championship last season, dominated the weekend starting both races from pole position and leading from start-to-finish to harvest maximum points in his title defence. "The car was absolutely perfect right through the weekend," said Adam, who also won the previous two rounds at Snetterton in his Total Control Racing-prepared car.
The full article contains 336 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
