Lucas Auer headed Timo Glock in a BMW 1-2 in the second DTM race of the weekend at the Lausitzring, as Audi’s Robin Frijns claimed the final podium position on the last lap of the race.
The start of the race saw pole-sitter Frijns hold his lead into the first turn as René Rast and Nico Müller assumed second and third positions as the leading status quo continued.
But the race was decided by pitstop strategy, with drivers who pitted earlier ending up with the upper hand this time around.
Auer was running in eighth before making his pit stop on lap ten, which left the Austrian running behind Audi’s Jamie Green and fellow BMW racer Glock as the leading drivers who had pitted early in the race.
When the entire field had completed its mandatory pit stop, Green found himself in the lead ahead of Glock and Auer on lap 20.
Glock passed Green for the lead heading into Turn 1 on lap 24, with Auer following past at the same time. The German then led the race for just one lap as Auer got by Glock at the same turn a lap later.
However, the battle at the front continued with ferocity and Glock re-assumed the lead two laps later, again with the use of DRS at Turn 1, to then hold the lead entering into the closing phase of the race.
Auer remained glued to Glock’s bumper and pounced for the lead on the final lap at Turn 1, as Glock put up his best defence. Unable to attack in the second half of the lap, Glock had to settle for second as Auer claimed his first DTM win since 2017.
Glock took second, his first podium of the season, ahead of Frijns in third, who had passed Green at the final corner and Rast further around the lap to claim his fourth podium of the year.
Green crossed the line in fourth, ahead of championship leader Nico Müller in fifth, who also got by Rast on the final lap. Rast took sixth, further dropping behind Müller in the title race, with the gap now at 36 points.
BMW’s Jonathan Aberdein was seventh, having taken the position from Marco Wittmann three laps from the end, ahead of Audi’s Loïc Duval in eighth.
The top ten was completed by BMW’s Wittmann in ninth and his stable-mate Sheldon van der Linde in tenth, which the South African having dropped from fourth on the grid to the very back when he bogged down at the start of the race.
Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller just missed out on the points and was 11th, having started 14th.
All drivers finished the race, with BMW Team ART’s Robert Kubica in last, over ten seconds adrift of the next car.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 57:22.467 | 1:39.028 | 9 |
| 2 | 16 | Timo GLOCK |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 1.210 | 1:38.935 | 7 |
| 3 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 1.775 | 1:38.522 | 1 |
| 4 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 1.977 | 1:38.438 | 5 |
| 5 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 2.464 | 1:39.158 | 2 |
| 6 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 2.475 | 1:39.116 | 3 |
| 7 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 3.236 | 1:38.998 | 16 |
| 8 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 4.096 | 1:39.166 | 8 |
| 9 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 4.205 | 1:38.994 | 6 |
| 10 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 9.090 | 1:39.223 | 4 |
| 11 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 9.155 | 1:39.302 | 14 |
| 12 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 9.821 | 1:39.252 | 12 |
| 13 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 12.303 | 1:39.210 | 10 |
| 14 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 13.230 | 1:38.669 | 15 |
| 15 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 15.396 | 1:38.989 | 13 |
| 16 | 8 | Robert KUBICA |  |
BMW Team ART | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 28.090 | 1:39.978 | 11 |
