New baby brings luck – Paul Di Resta wins in Budapest

Paul Di Resta: Riding on the crest of a wave both in private life and on the track – first win of the season just a few days after the birth of daughter Perla

• Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) moved up twelve places to secure his first win of the season in Budapest
• Gary Paffett (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM Mercedes me) in eighth place and Edoardo Mortara in P10 also finished in the points
• Paul Di Resta: “Sometimes, fortune favours the brave. We were unlucky in qualifying, but then the safety car helped us.”
• Ulrich Fritz: “This was once again a great advert for the sport and a terrific victory for the entire team.”

Third win of season for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM Team: Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) won the fifth race of the season at the Hungaroring. The Scotsman started from P13 on the grid and gained twelve positions during the one-hour race. The 2010 DTM champion benefited from his early pit stop before the safety car period. This was Di Resta’s eighth victory in the DTM, his first since the 2016 season opener in Hockenheim and his 29th podium in the touring car series. He took this win just a few days after the birth of his daughter, Perla, who was born on the Monday before the race weekend.

Gary Paffett (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM Mercedes me) in eighth place also achieved a points-scoring finish. Edoardo Mortara (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM BWT) ended this weekend’s first race in P10.

Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM BWT) finished his 40th DTM race out of the points. The Austrian was hit in mid-field and spun just after the safety car re-start before the half-way stage. He dropped back to the rear of the field as a result. He ultimately crossed the finish line in P13. Auer on 69 points still leads the drivers’ standings.

Maro Engel (Mercedes – AMG C 63 DTM SILVERPFEIL Energy) booked P14. His Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM team colleague Robert Wickens (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM Mercedes me) retired with a puncture. Jamie Green was disqualified after the race. The following drivers move up one position.

Looking ahead to race 2: The sixth round of the 2017 DTM season starts on Sunday at 3:18 pm CEST (live on ARD TV at 3:00 pm CEST). Third practice will take place before that at 10:00 am CEST followed by the second qualifying at 12:00 pm CEST (live on One at 11:55 CEST). During each race weekend, we will provide live timing data, live commentary, fan voting and exclusive behind-the-scenes videos of the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM Team on our website at: www.mercedes-amg-motorsport.com/dtm.

Comments after the race

Paul Di Resta (31, Scotland):

• P1
• Car number: 3
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“Sometimes, fortune favours the brave. We had bad luck in qualifying today, but then the safety car helped us out. Things have a habit of balancing themselves out. But my tyres also allowed it. We knew we had to take an aggressive approach. But we managed to control the situation. The tyres degrade pretty quickly, and there’s a lot of wear. I held Timo at bay, and he wasn’t close enough to attack. The Audis were a bit unlucky, but today things were running in our favour. Hopefully, that will now kick-start my season. Tomorrow, though, it will once again be difficult to beat Audi. But we have seen today that anything is possible. Consequently, we intend to get the maximum out of qualifying, and then we’ll see what happens in the race.”

Gary Paffett (36, England):

• P8
• Car number: 2
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM Mercedes me

“I’m pretty happy with the result. It was an up and down race. My start was good, and I felt quite comfortable in the field. I was just waiting for the pit stop when the safety car came out. I didn’t get away particularly well after the restart and lost a couple of places. I then managed to stay out of trouble and gained a few places in Turn 2. The car was good during the race. I didn’t have the pace of the Audis, but otherwise, I was quite happy with the car for the whole race. Obviously, the safety car period benefited the guys who decided to pit before. P8 is okay and I’m generally happy with the performance overall. I was just a bit unlucky with the safety car.”

Edoardo Mortara (30, Italy):

• P10
• Car number: 48
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM BWT

“That was a tough race for us. In all honesty, there have been occasions when I’ve felt more comfortable in the car. I’m better able to compete then and salvaging a point from 16th on the grid after a problematic qualifying is by no means bad. Unfortunately, the safety car deployment didn’t play into our hands, but still, I got a mega restart. At times out there, it looked like I might even be on for a P7 or a P8 finish. We’ll now try to improve on this tomorrow.”

Lucas Auer (22, Austria):

• P13
• Car number: 22
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM BWT

“First, of all, I’d like to congratulate my team and Paul on this victory. It was down to superb work and a great strategy. We’ve seen just recently that a lot can go wrong for me in motor racing. I was involved in a crash that wasn’t my fault. Unfortunately, that can happen in motorsport. Still, I’m looking forward to tomorrow when things will turn out better, I hope.”

Maro Engel (31, Germany):

• P14
• Car number: 63
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM SILBERPFEIL Energy

“Unfortunately, we had an unexpectedly problematic qualifying today. I was satisfied with having been the fastest Mercedes driver in free practice. But then, in qualifying, the balance was completely gone. In the race, though, it was all right again and I was able to put in a very long stint. Congratulations to Paul and the entire team. We got a victory today from a difficult starting position – that is fantastic. Now we have to put our heads together for tomorrow, to make sure we start from further forward on the grid.”

Robert Wickens (28, Canada):

• Retired
• Car number: 6
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM Mercedes me

“An emotional day. I mean we qualified okay given the circumstances. We’ve been struggling this weekend, but I thought we got a lot out of it with P11. My start was good, and I was in the points in P10, but the safety car really ruined my race. I was one corner away from coming into the pits, and then the safety car came out, and I couldn’t pit. The safety car restart went amazingly well. I was able to gain a position in the first corner, and then a few cars made contact in the second turn. I was in P5 after the restart. Once again, I was on my in-lap and heading to the pits when something broke on the left front and had to retire the car. There was no contact or anything, and it happened in the last corner, so I had to do a whole lap. It was a puncture but there was no warning. It’s a pity. I think we could have scored a pretty strong haul of points but for the safety car issue. P7 was really possible today.”

Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM:

“What an incredibly exciting race! Of course, we benefited from the safety car, but the way Paul wrapped up the race was phenomenal. This was once again a great advert for the sport and a terrific victory for the entire team.”

Race results: Top Ten*

*Jamie Green was disqualified after the race. The following drivers move up one position.

Drivers‘ Championship

Manufacturers‘ Championship

Teams‘ Championship

- Advertisement -