Paul will start from fourth on the grid of the 2.5-mile Bugatti circuit at Le Mans for the penultimate round of DTM tomorrow bidding to record back-to-back victories and boost his hopes of lifting the championship for the first time.
After winning last time out in Barcelona a fortnight ago, Paul was fastest in the final practice session on the French circuit this morning. But this afternoon he was made to sweat in the closing seconds of the second qualifying session when his mechanics pushed his Mercedes back into the garage.
“It was nothing major, but it meant we weren’t able to go out again in that session,” Paul explained. “We got through to the final session, but I’m definitely disappointed not to be further up the grid.”
Paul, who lies second in the championship just seven points behind the Audi of Timo Scheider, clocked a fastest time of 1min 30.379secs round the shorter 2.5-mile track. And Paul, who lines up alongside the Audi of former champ Mattias Ekstrom and behind fellow Merc racer Jamie Green, was just 0.230s off the pole set by the Audi of Dane Tom Kristensen.
“It’s going to be crucial that I get a good start and can leapfrog Mattias early in the race,” Paul, who lines up immediately ahead of Scheider, continued. “After that I can set about putting Tom under pressure and then see what happens.
“There’s only one more race after this weekend, so it’s crucial I score as many points as possible to make sure we’re still in with a chance when we go to Hockenheim for the final race.”
JM