Gary Paffett got his Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters campaign off to a great start at Hockenheim, as the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM driver took the first race victory of the 2018 season, leading Austria’s Lucas Auer across the finish line in a Stuttgart 1-2 by 1.449 seconds.
The Briton would initially lose out to Auer at the turn five hairpin on lap six, but made great use of the undercut to retake the position from his stablemate just past the halfway mark.
Timo Glock would round out the podium, having battled cleanly and fairly with Auer, who was trying to get the tyres of his Mercedes C63 AMG DTM Coupé back up to temperature following his mandatory pit stop.
The BMW driver had opted to pit earlier to try and maximise his chances towards the sharp end of the field, but had to settle for the final step of the rostrum.
Edoardo Mortara and Pascal Wehrlein secured a significant stronghold on point scores for Mercedes, as the pair also duelled over position in the latter stages.
The Italian was able to use good race pace to impressively make a charge through from the lower part of the top ten to overtake the 2015 champion with just over five minutes to go on the inside of turn seven.
Bruno Spengler would also make progress to finish in sixth place, following some exciting battles during the last ten minutes of the race.
With a further increase in temperature favouring the Mercedes ranks as track temperatures hit 32 degrees Celsius at the start, Marco Wittmann’s pace dropped as the race continued.
The two-time champion would come under attack from multiple drivers as the race reached its conclusion, putting him eleventh at the finish.
Paul Di Resta and Daniel Juncadella were also able to ensure all six Mercedes to finish in the points, as the pair were able to get past the faltering Wittmann to take seventh and eighth behind Spengler.
Defending champion René Rast was also involved with the battling in the lower half of the top ten, with both he and stablemate Look Duval completing the top ten.
However, the Audi driver is currently under investigation post-race, following a possible unsafe release by his pit crew into the path of Juncadella.
BMW rookie Joel Eriksson showcased his impressive race craft, as the Formula 3 graduate made several last-minute overtakes on the opposition throughout the race.
However, the Swede attempted to pass Mike Rockefeller into turn seven in the last ten minutes, but ran wide after locking up the wheels on his BMW M4 DTM, ending up behind Wittmann.
Nico Müller and Mike Rockefeller would finish behind the hard-charging Eriksson to take 13th and 14th place respectively, as they both opted to pit late to give themselves chances to score points.
It was a difficult race for Augusto Farfus, following a great qualifying from the Brazilian, but the Team RBM driver could only take 15th, ahead of a solid recovery by Philipp Eng.
The Austrian’s BMW, whose race was compromised at the start by a bad getaway after the red lights went out, managed to claw back one place at the end of the race.
Robin Frijns’ first outing for Audi Sport saw the Dutchman finish ahead of both Mattias Ekström and Jamie Green, after what was a difficult time for the Ingolstadt outfit on their title defences.
The final free practice session of the 2018 DTM season opener starts at 0900 CEST (0800 BST), lasting for 30 minutes.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 37 LAPS | 1:35.022 | 1 |
| 2 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 1.449 | 1:34.689 | 4 |
| 3 | 16 | Timo GLOCK |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 6.514 | 1:34.741 | 3 |
| 4 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 8.198 | 1:35.125 | 7 |
| 5 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 11.391 | 1:34.838 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 15.758 | 1:35.418 | 8 |
| 7 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 16.600 | 1:35.285 | 12 |
| 8 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | 16.969 | 1:34.181 | 13 |
| 9 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 18.268 | 1:34.902 | 9 |
| 10 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 19.646 | 1:34.944 | 16 |
| 11 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 20.740 | 1:35.114 | 2 |
| 12 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 21.294 | 1:34.772 | 10 |
| 13 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 22.421 | 1:35.183 | 14 |
| 14 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 23.987 | 1:35.472 | 11 |
| 15 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 28.724 | 1:34.615 | 6 |
| 16 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 29.486 | 1:35.003 | 15 |
| 17 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM | |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 30.649 | 1:35.391 | 18 |
| 18 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 31.660 | 1:35.564 | 17 |
| 19 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 44.973 | 1:35.684 | 19 |