Reigning DTM champion René Rast held off a late charge by rival Nico Müller to claim victory in the second race at the Lausitzring, with the German’s margin of victory a mere 0.089 seconds.
Rast had moved into the lead with a forceful pass on pole-sitter Robin Frijns at Turn 1, for which the German had been pushed on to the grass.
Although Frijns pitted from the lead on lap 12, Rast stayed out one lap longer and as the German re-emerged from the pits, Frijns was able to re-take the position by virtue of having warmer tyres.
Meanwhile Müller, who had been running in fourth early on, was leading the race on older tyres, the Swiss not pitting until lap 20 to give him fresher rubber at the end of the race.
With tyres that had done seven less laps, Müller was the fastest man on track in the latter stages, and having emerged from his pitstop in seventh, by lap 34 he was up to third.
Müller had been almost ten seconds behind Rast with 18 laps to go, but with just three laps to go he was only 2.6 seconds behind his fellow Audi driver.
Going onto the final lap, Rast drove extra defensively, and Müller had to attempt a pass exiting the final corner. In the end the Swiss’ charge came just a few metres short, as he lost out to Rast by a mere 0.089 seconds.
Rast’s win has moved him up to second in the drivers’ standings, albeit 39 points behind Müller, whose four-race winning streak comes to an end.
BMW’s Marco Wittmann completed the podium after the German got past Frijns on the penultimate lap at Turn 6, leaving Frijns to take fourth and once again miss out on a win after claiming pole.
Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller was also a late pitter in the race, the Team Phoenix driver making rapid progress in the final laps to claim fifth, ahead of BMW’s Timo Glock in sixth.
Philipp Eng brought his BMW home in seventh, whilst the top ten was completed by Audi’s Loïc Duval, BMW’s Jonathan Aberdein and WRT Audi’s Ferdinand von Habsburg.
Jamie Green was the only retirement from the race, the Brit stopping after 37 laps whilst running in eighth with a technical issue on his RS5.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 43 | 57:09.747 | 1:17.507 | 3 |
| 2 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 43 | 0.089 | 1:17.668 | 2 |
| 3 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 43 | 9.567 | 1:18.021 | 7 |
| 4 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 43 | 12.532 | 1:16.992 | 1 |
| 5 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 43 | 13.731 | 1:18.208 | 6 |
| 6 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 43 | 20.395 | 1:18.052 | 12 |
| 7 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 43 | 21.193 | 1:18.132 | 11 |
| 8 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 43 | 25.326 | 1:17.814 | 5 |
| 9 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 43 | 26.597 | 1:18.262 | 14 |
| 10 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 43 | 37.074 | 1:17.792 | 4 |
| 11 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 43 | 37.331 | 1:17.694 | 13 |
| 12 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 43 | 37.926 | 1:18.079 | 8 |
| 13 | 8 | Robert KUBICA |  |
BMW Team ART | BMW M4 DTM | 43 | 38.445 | 1:18.616 | 16 |
| 14 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 43 | 39.135 | 1:17.937 | 15 |
| 15 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 43 | 46.492 | 1:17.820 | 10 |
| R | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | DNF | 1:17.107 | 9 |