The second leg of the 2017 DTM season opener at Hockenheim has put teams and drivers to test, as the rain came pouring down halfway through the 55-minute long race.
Starting in dry conditions, Timo Glock got off well, defending his pole position and leading into turn one, while plenty of cars in the midfield overshoot the classic corner. Further behind, contact between Loïc Duval, Nico Müller and Robert Wickens ends in the barriers for the latter, forcing out an early safety car.
With the race neutralised, René Rast turned out to be the biggest loser of the start, having been relegated to eighth position from second on the grid. Edoardo Mortara had a similarly bad start, finding himself in eleventh from a starting spot in fourth.
Wicken’s stricken Mercedes was swiftly recovered by the marshals and just two laps later the revised restart procedure – in which drivers line up in rows of two – made for a spectacular sprint into the first corner. Being a prime opportunity for an easy overtake, cars went five-wide for a brief moment, yet there was no significant incident other than the usual pushing and shoving.
Jamie Green got a great jump on Timo Glock and got hold of the lead, while the bright yellow BMW of Glock went down all the way to fourth place. This promoted Lucas Auer, winner of yesterday’s race, to second place. The Austrian swiftly set the fastest lap, sneaking up on the new leader.
To complicate things for Green even further, race stewards awarded him a 5-second time penalty for an incorrect starting position on the restart. Now under even more pressure than before, the Briton quickly responded with another fastest lap, hoping for a quick pit stop to make up for the lost time.
Meanwhile the rain clouds were back hanging over the track, with drivers reporting on increasingly slippery conditions. The rain could not have come at a worse time for the likes of Mike Rockenfeller and Tom Blomqvist, who were both trying to gain an advantage by pitting early in the race.
Concurrently, Marco Wittmann proved to have sharp reactions by narrowly avoiding to hit a stationary Edoardo Mortara. The Italian took a rather aggressive approach over the curbs outside of turn one, sending his Audi RS5 DTM into a spin.
As the rain worsened rapidly, a good chunk of the field, including leader Jamie Green, dove into the pits for a more than necessary change to wet weather tyres. Whilst Green stopped his Audi to, along with a tyre swap, also take his time penalty, second placed Lucas Auer opted to stay out for another lap in the gruelling conditions.
Against all odds, Green kept clinging onto his race lead with his prolonged visit to the pits done, as Lucas Auer struggled on his final before he went down to box. Fighting to keep his car on the asphalt, he had to hand over second place to the fellow Mercedes-Benz of Gary Paffett.
The veteran tried everything in his might to catch up on the leader, but Green was already too far gone for an attack to happen. Nothing stood between Green and the top step on the podium anymore, and after a disastrous first race on Saturday, he redeemed himself with a fourteenth career DTM victory.
Gary Paffett brought his AMG C63 Coupé home in 2nd place, with BMW’s Marco Wittmann completing the rostrum.
Lucas Auer took a gamble on pit strategy that did not work out as planned – he had to settle for fourth.
Pole-setter Timo Glock’s race went downhill after a botched safety car restart, with the German getting relegated all the way down to eighth position.
DTM will return in just two weeks time, with a visit to the EuroSpeedway Lausitzring from May 20 to 21.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 33 | LAP 33 | 1:33.614 | 3 |
| 2 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 33 | 4.936 | 1:33.678 | 7 |
| 3 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 33 | 8.191 | 1:34.469 | 17 |
| 4 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 33 | 16.985 | 1:33.737 | 8 |
| 5 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 33 | 26.959 | 1:34.535 | 12 |
| 6 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 33 | 27.426 | 1:34.491 | 11 |
| 7 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 33 | 31.315 | 1:33.810 | 5 |
| 8 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 33 | 1:06.250 | 1:34.168 | 1 |
| 9 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 33 | 1:08.538 | 1:34.466 | 6 |
| 10 | 63 | Maro ENGEL | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 33 | 1:12.117 | 1:34.546 | 9 |
| 11 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 33 | 1:12.944 | 1:34.147 | 10 |
| 12 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 33 | 1:48.234 | 1:35.285 | 14 |
| 13 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 32 | 1 LAP | 1:33.867 | 4 |
| R | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | DNF | 1:36.488 | 18 |
| R | 77 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | DNF | 1:35.385 | 13 |
| R | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 5 | DNF | N/A | 2 |
| R | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 4 | DNF | N/A | 15 |
| R | 6 | Robert WICKENS | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1 | DNF | N/A | 16 |