Sitting second in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters standings at the halfway point of the current campaign, Paul Di Resta is the only driver to have scored points in all 10 races, which has clearly put him in contention for a second title.
The Scot is 27 points behind Stuttgart stablemate Gary Paffett, but admits to a very calculated strategy towards the hunt for the 2018 drivers’ title. making sure all bases were covered this weekend in Zandvoort
“After qualifying, I was unlucky in sector three, being the slowest sector three of anybody in that session thanks to an Audi so René has them to thank for that, so it made our life maybe a little bit harder than it needed to be,” admitted the 2010 champion, who has only taken one win so far at Hungaroring.
“I needed a good strategy from the guys, a decent pitstop and we secured the third place quite early on, and then it was a case of making sure that we got to the end.”
The 31-year-old took two hard-fought podiums this weekend, but had hoped that there was a bit more luck on his part of the garage, which could have seen the drivers’ standings that little bit closer come the end of the weekend in the Netherlands.
“Hopefully we can keep this process going all the way to the end of the season and as being in the races at the end of the season is key. You need to keep in there with one hand and make sure you keep pushing.”
Di Resta was also very honest about the unpredictability that has clearly been shown in DTM this year, showing that a team and driver can quickly turn things around.
“I think that when you come to every track, you expect the unexpected in DTM, you can never disregard these guys. Yesterday, René already looked quick in qualifying and certainly started to put the pressure on us. Then in the race, we knew they’ve got to that position after yesterday’s performance.
“Credit to them because it was an all out race today but the nature of this track if you come and stand on the sidelines and watch how good these cars are around here. We’ve had a perfect day for it, perfect weather and at the same time we all love coming here, and we hope that continues and because we think that the cars are at the perfect speed to drive around here.”