Defending champion René Rast combined pit strategy with a lightning start to take his fourth consecutive Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters win, closing the gap to his title rivals in the standings.
Rast led home an Audi 1-2 as an impressive Nico Müller followed him across the line, some five seconds clear of polesitter Gary Paffett who completed the podium.
In fourth position was standings leader Paul Di Resta who jumped Paffett in the stops, before the latter took back the position to narrow the gap in the championship.
Race one winner Rast gained four positions from his grid slot of eighth in the opening few corners, and then passed Paffett and Di Resta in the stops by virtue of an undercut, before closing on and passing Müller for the victory.
In doing so, he put a car between himself and title rivals Di Resta and Paffett, and now sits 30 points adrift of standings leader Di Resta, with 56 points up for grabs at the title decider at Hockenheim.
Rookie Joel Eriksson rounded out the top five as the fastest BMW entry ahead of Pascal Wehrlein who fended off Timo Glock at the line.
Next was race one podium finisher Mike Rockenfeller who had a quiet race en route to eighth position, finishing ahead of a fierce battle between Philip Eng, Edoardo Mortara and Daniel Juncadella who secured ninth, tenth and 11th respectively.
Race one polesitter Juncadella had been battling with Glock for seventh position earlier in the race, before the former slide wide at turn four after locking up following a lunge down the inside.
Augusto Farfus was an early retirement in the race after he battled with five-time World Rally champion Sebastian Ogier, with the latter needing a tear-off at his stop due to the oil spilled from Farfus’ BMW.
Lucas Auer continued his disappointing weekend with a retirement, after he had an issue with his Mercedes in qualifying.
The final double-header of the championship will be held at Hockenheim on the weekend of the 13-14th October, where the title will be decided.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 57:45.704 | 1:25.063 | 7 |
| 2 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 0.421 | 1:25.003 | 2 |
| 3 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 40 | 4.700 | 1:24.907 | 1 |
| 4 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 40 | 6.963 | 1:25.207 | 3 |
| 5 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 40 | 10.889 | 1:25.228 | 5 |
| 6 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 40 | 14.709 | 1:25.387 | 4 |
| 7 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 40 | 15.692 | 1:25.421 | 6 |
| 8 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 20.193 | 1:25.337 | 13 |
| 9 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 40 | 24.830 | 1:25.160 | 10 |
| 10 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 40 | 25.685 | 1:25.356 | 9 |
| 11 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 40 | 26.314 | 1:25.290 | 8 |
| 12 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 26.647 | 1:25.286 | 12 |
| 13 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 36.841 | 1:25.093 | 11 |
| 14 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 40 | 37.659 | 1:25.355 | 17 |
| 15 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 40 | 38.013 | 1:25.631 | 15 |
| 16 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 38.336 | 1:25.695 | 18 |
| 17 | 17 | Sébastien OGIER | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 39 | + 1 LAP | 1:25.461 | 19 |
| R | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 27 | DNF | 1:25.315 | 14 |
| R | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | DNF | 1:26.026 | 16 |