René Rast secured his third DTM title with a resounding victory in the second DTM race at the Hockenheimring, as he beat Nico Müller to the win in the final race of the season.
Rast was beaten away from the line by fellow front-row starter Mike Rockenfeller at the start, as behind him his title rival Müller moved into third directly behind.
Rockenfeller’s lead was short-lived, as on lap three Rast was hot on the tail of the leading Audi, passing with the aid of DRS along the back straight to assume the lead.
It took Müller a further five laps to get into second, by which time Rast had built up a lead of just under two seconds.
Müller was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 14, with Rast following in for his stop three laps later. By staying out on older rubber, the German lost time and Müller emerged in the lead as Rast came out of the pits.
Although the Swiss had a three-and-a-half second lead in the laps following the pits, he reported over the radio that his Push-to-Pass system was not working, and five laps later Rast had slashed the gap and was on the Abt Sportsline driver’s tail.
Rast re-claimed the lead on lap 24 by passing Müller with the aid of DRS on the back straight, and thereafter he opened up a gap of over ten seconds as he claimed his seventh victory of the season, and his fifth from six races.
Müller had no answer and took second, meaning he lost out on a possible first title by 23 points to now three-time champion Rast.
Rast’s team-mate Jamie Green completed the podium for the second race in a row, passing Rockenfeller for the place just two laps from the end, after also getting past Robin Frijns five laps before that.
Rockenfeller took fourth, ahead of Frijns in fifth, the Dutchman having already sealed third in the drivers’ standings earlier in the year.
Loïc Duval was sixth, ahead of the best BMW driver of Jonathan Aberdein in sixth, as the Munich manufacturer again had a low-key race in its final factory DTM appearance.
Timo Glock took eighth, whilst the top ten was completed by fellow M4 drivers Sheldon van der Linde and Philipp Eng.
Marco Wittmann came through to 11th from the back of the grid, ahead of the leading WRT car of Fabio Scherer in 12th.
Ferdinand von Habsburg had been running in the top ten, but the WRT Audi driver was handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, meaning he could only manage 14th.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 57:49.271 | 1:31.027 | 1 |
| 2 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 10.199 | 1:31.289 | 4 |
| 3 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 13.409 | 1:31.642 | 3 |
| 4 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 16.648 | 1:31.717 | 2 |
| 5 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 17.887 | 1:31.526 | 8 |
| 6 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 26.068 | 1:31.428 | 6 |
| 7 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 32.673 | 1:31.374 | 5 |
| 8 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 40.451 | 1:31.521 | 9 |
| 9 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 40.974 | 1:31.782 | 12 |
| 10 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 43.244 | 1:32.049 | 11 |
| 11 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 37 | 48.476 | 1:31.435 | 16 |
| 12 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 53.027 | 1:32.222 | 10 |
| 13 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 56.513 | 1:31.266 | 15 |
| 14 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 1:05.095 | 1:32.079 | 7 |
| 15 | 8 | Robert KUBICA |  |
BMW Team ART | Audi RS5 DTM | 37 | 1:15.953 | 1:32.206 | 13 |
| 16 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 36 | + 1 LAP | 1:32.164 | 14 |
