MERCEDES' Paul di Resta converted pole position into a stunning victory at Brands Hatch on Sunday to secure his first DTM German Touring Car Championship win this season.

After setting a blistering pace in free practice and qualifying, di Resta's race pace proved unassailable and the Scotsman secured a lights-to-flag victory at his home circuit for the second year in a row.

Behind di Resta, fellow Mercedes driver Bruno Spengler converted his front row start into a comfortable second place finish, although he was pushed hard during the race by Audi's Timo Scheider.

An impressive performance from Audi's Miguel Molina secured a well-deserved fourth place for the DTM rookie.

Molina started eighth on the grid and even fell behind Martin Tomczyk in the opening stages.

However, the Spaniard adopted a late pit stop strategy, which allowed him to quietly make up ground.

Molina was the last driver to change tyres during the first compulsory pit stop and managed to rejoin ahead of Tomczyk in seventh place, before a late second stop promoted him to fourth.

Molina's 2008-spec car also showed tremendous pace in the closing stages and he missed out on a podium finish by just four tenths of a second.

Bromley's Gary Paffett settled for a solid fifth place finish after his Mercedes C-Class struggled to replicate the pace of the front-running duo.

Paffett passed Ralf Schumacher off the start line to take fourth on the opening lap, however he was bumped back down again when Molina jumped him during the second round of pit stops.

Paffett's fellow countryman Oliver Jarvis had a quietly consistent run to eighth place, ahead of fellow Audi drivers Martin Tomczyk and Alexandre Premat.

After battling head-to-head throughout the race, Mike Rockenfeller and Jamie Green finished just outside the points in ninth and tenth respectively.

On his first race at Brands Hatch since 1991, ex-F1 driver David Coulthard steered his 2008-spec Mercedes to twelfth place.

The Scotsman made up three places on the opening two laps from fourteenth on the grid, before having to take a drive through penalty for jumping the start.

However, Coulthard launched an impressive recovery drive to pass the Audi of Katherine Legge and the Mercedes of Congfu Cheng by the chequered flag.

There were retirements for Audi's Mattias Ekstrom and Susie Stoddardt, who clashed at Paddock Hill Bend on lap three.

Ekstrom slowed with mechanical problems and Stoddardt ran into the back of him, causing her suspension to break.

The other drivers that failed to complete the race were Mercedes' Ralf Schumacher, whose car was damaged and tyre punctured by a high speed trip through the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend shortly after his first pit stop, and Audi's Markus Winkelhock, who sustained damage going off at exactly the same corner.