MOTORSPORT

West Lothian’s Paul Di Resta must try again in today’s final race of the season after failing to clinch his second DTM Championship at Hockenheim yesterday.

The 2010 champion finished down in eighth place and now trails his Mercedes team-mate Gary Paffett by six points going in to this afternoon’s final round. German defending champion Rene Rast is a further nine points back in third but can still overtake both Mercedes drivers after scoring his fifth straight win for Audi.

Di Resta had entered the weekend with a four-point advantage over Paffett, but his lead was halved when the Englishman picked up two bonus points for qualifying in second. The 32-year-old Scot was only eighthquickest, but improved to fifth by the end of the opening race lap and gained another place on lap 11 before pitting soon after.

Despite losing momentum, a safety car on lap 25 enabled the ex-Formula One driver to move back into fifth as Paffett and Rast battled for the lead.

Paffett slipped back to eventually finish fourth, but Di Resta was also fading and suffered what could prove to be fatal blows to his title hopes when both Mike Rockenfeller and Nico Muller overtook him on the penultimate lap, costing him four championship points.