José María López took victory in the opening World Touring Car Championship race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, as a final lap puncture and accident took out Tiago Monteiro and Yvan Muller.
From pole position, Monteiro had led the entire race until a puncture in the fourth sector pitched him hard into the barriers on the final lap of the race.
The Honda driver had earlier got off to a strong start to lead the Polestar Volvo of Thed Björk, who lasted only one lap after retiring into the pits on lap two reporting an oil pressure problem.
That left Muller in second and López in third heading onto the Nordschleife on the second lap, with the duo having both got strong starts to gain ground at Turn 1 at the start of the race.
Monteiro had just under a one-second advantage over Muller heading onto the Nordschleife for the final lap, before his front-right tyre gave way half-way around and caused a big accident. Whilst López, who was bumper-to-bumper with Muller at the time, snuck through, the Frenchman had nowhere to go and collected the Civic heavily.
The drama ahead allowed Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton to take second, ahead of the leading Honda of Norbert Michelisz in third.
The second Honda of Rob Huff finished in fourth, despite starting from 16th on the grid, having dispatched the second Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën of Mehdi Bennani on the final lap.
That left Bennani to finish in fifth, despite the Moroccan having been running in third for the first half of the opening lap. A mistake by Bennani meant he lost four positions in one go, and he was unable to make up the lost ground thereafter, benefitting only from the demise of drivers ahead.
Hugo Valente was the leading LADA driver in sixth, ahead of team-mate Gabriele Tarquini in seventh, the duo having swapped positions at the start of the race when the Frenchman got off to a better start than his experienced Italian colleague.
Volvo’s Fredrik Ekblom took eighth, despite starting from the very back of the grid, with LADA’s Nicky Catsburg and Münnich Motorsport’s Sabine Schmitz completing the top ten.
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel had looked likely to finish fifth, even setting the fastest lap of the race, before he suffered a puncture and was pitched into the barriers on the final lap of the race, before the leaders had their crash.
The Campos Racing Chevrolet of John Filippi also retired from the race, with the Frenchman pulling into the pits after the first lap with mechanical issues.
Ahead of the Main Race, López has now extended his championship tally to 168 points, giving the Argentine a 44-point advantage over Monteiro, with Huff a further 14 points adrift in third.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 26:36.640 | 8:47.735 | 9 | |
| 2 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 0.526 | 8:47.586 | 5 |
| 3 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 6.653 | 8:48.709 | 6 | |
| 4 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 7.971 | 8:51.306 | 16 | |
| 5 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 10.126 | 8:51.262 | 2 |
| 6 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 12.568 | 8:53.370 | 11 | |
| 7 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 12.89 | 8:51.827 | 10 | |
| 8 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 3 | 12.983 | 8:50.567 | 17 | |
| 9 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 20.389 | 8:54.201 | 4 | |
| 10 | 8 | T | Sabine SCHMITZ |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 29.462 | 8:58.644 | 12 |
| 11 | 11 | T | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 36.301 | 9:01.478 | 14 |
| 12 | 55 | T | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 38.331 | 9:01.359 | 15 |
| R | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 2 | 1 Lap | 8:48.837 | 1 | |
| R | 68 | Yvan MULLER | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 2 | 1 Lap | 8:48.516 | 8 | |
| NS | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 2 | 1 Lap | 8:48.091 | 7 |
| NS | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 1 | 2 Laps | 8:55.843 | 3 | |
| NS | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 1 | 2 Laps | 9:09.763 | 13 |