After 52 races of competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport’s Maro Engel took a well-earned maiden win at Moscow Raceway this afternoon, holding off new championship leader Mattias Ekström by 0.376 seconds after 37 laps.
Ekström was on a characteristic late charge through the field, having made some great overtakes past defending champion Marco Wittmann and Tom Blomqvist amongst others to finish runner-up.
All three brands were represented on the podium thanks to the efforts 2012 champion Bruno Spengler, who took advantage of a great battle involving Jamie Green and former points leader René Rast over the last few moments to finish third.
Rast would settle for fourth ahead of Green, which saw Audi Sport have three of their cars in the top five, whilst Wittmann would finish in sixth.
2013 champion Mike Rockenfeller was one of several drivers that made their way back up the order over the course of the race, as the Team Phoenix driver would take seventh place, ahead of initial pole sitter Tom Blomqvist, who was excluded post qualifying, due to a lack of residual fuel in his M4 DTM.
Along with Engel’s victory, Mercedes would also have two other C63 AMG Coupés in the top ten, with Lucas Auer and Robert Wickens completing the top ten.
Auer was again showcasing his bravery and talent in two great overtakes during the race, overtaking Rockenfeller around the outside of turn seven on lap 16 for 14th place.
This was before following that up with a three-way tussle with both Rast and Augusto Farfus, as the Austrian locked up on the inside of the pair going into the last turn of lap 18, whilst Rast clipped the left rear of Farfus’ car, forcing the Brazilian wide.
Gary Paffett would finish 11th ahead of Stuttgart stablemate Edoardo Mortara at the finish, with Farfus relegated down the order to 13th, after being forced wide by Rast at the halfway point.
Timo Glock was the last classified finisher from the BMW ranks down in 14th place, ahead of Loïc Duval, who was battling Mercedes’ Paul Di Resta on lap 29, before the pair clashed halfway around the lap, forcing di Resta to eventually retire on lap 33.
Müller would finish way down the order behind Ingolstadt stablemate Duval in 16th, as a result of pitting with just a handful of laps to go.
Along with Di Resta, it was another race weekend for Maxime Martin to forget, as the Belgian’s race came to a sudden halt on lap 5, bringing out the Safety Car following Martin’s car hitting the wall on the outside of turn nine.
The Team RBM driver had a overheating issue, following on him going off track after a slight nudge from Duval going into the first turn after the start. This prompted a sudden brake failure, causing him to go straight on.
In terms of the championship, Ekström now leads Rast by just a single point with 112 points, with Auer now in third with 97, whilst Green moves back into fourth a further ten points behind the Austrian.
The teams’ championship fight is still being led by Audi Sport Team Rosberg, who are 50 points in front of Team Abt Sportsline, with BMW Team RBM rounding out the top three.
In the battle of the constructors, Ingolstadt still lead the way on 425 points, as Mercedes-AMG are still 88 adrift, with BMW still closing the gap with 308 points after ten races this year.
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters returns in four weeks’ time, as the series takes its penultimate trip outside of home soil.
Circuit Park Zandvoort sets the backdrop along the North Sea Coast for the sixth race weekend of the year, which takes place between the 18th and 20th of August.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 63 | Maro ENGEL |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 56:41.087 | 1:29.573 | 17 |
| 2 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 0.376 | 1:28.924 | 2 |
| 3 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 3.981 | 1:29.158 | 1 |
| 4 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 4.702 | 1:28.612 | 3 |
| 5 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 5.410 | 1:28.436 | 15 |
| 6 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 7.192 | 1:29.169 | 6 |
| 7 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 7.416 | 1:28.751 | 14 |
| 8 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 8.391 | 1:29.490 | 18 |
| 9 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 8.564 | 1:28.825 | 12 |
| 10 | 6 | Robert WICKENS | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 8.982 | 1:28.908 | 10 |
| 11 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 9.267 | 1:28.681 | 9 |
| 12 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 9.942 | 1:29.422 | 16 |
| 13 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 10.919 | 1:29.193 | 11 |
| 14 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 12.505 | 1:29.206 | 5 |
| 15 | 77 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 19.913 | 1:29.954 | 8 |
| 16 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 37.728 | 1:29.580 | 13 |
| 17 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 33 | 4 LAPS | 1:28.809 | 4 |
| R | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 5 | 32 LAPS | 1:29.773 | 7 |