Edoardo Mortara took victory in the first Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race in controversial circumstances at the Norisring, finishing ahead of stable-mate Jamie Green to take Audi’s first home win since 2002.
At the start of the race Audi’s Mattias Ekström made a slightly stronger start than pole-sitter Christian Vietoris, passing the Mercedes driver up the inside into Turn One.
However, the Swede then lost out heading through Turns Two and Turns Three to lose the lead back to Vietoris. Ekström then held on to second for the next eight laps, before Robert Wickens made it a Mercedes 1-2 on lap nine when he got past the Swede.
The race took a controversial turn on Lap 20 when Ekström made an attempt to pass Wickens for second into Turn 1, with the former champion appearing to brake too late as the Canadian defended his line. Not only did the duo make contact, but Ekström then slid into the back of Vietoris, spinning him out of the lead.
The carnage allowed then fourth-placed Mortara to slip through into the lead, with Green and a recovering Ekström taking the top three spots.
For Ekström though it didn’t last long, as he was forced to retire to the pits with significant front-end damage, whilst Wickens was forced to retire from the race after failing to navigate the first turn and running out of turning space.
Mortara then held off ‘Mr Norisring’ Green for the remainder of the race to take his second win of the season and move into the championship lead.
Following the Turn 1 incident, Paul di Resta emerged as the best-placed Mercedes driver to finish in fourth, despite applying late-race pressure to fellow Brit Green for second.
Marco Wittmann was the leading BMW driver in fourth, having steadily progressed his way through the field from 13th on the grid. The Team RMG driver passed fellow BMW champion Bruno Spengler for fourth on lap 36 into the first turn.
Team MTEK’s Spengler himself took his best result of the season in fifth, ahead of BMW Team RBM’s Maxime Martin in sixth.
Audi’s Adrien Tambay was another who made good progress in the race, coming from 15th on the grid to take seventh, ahead of Mercedes’ Maximilian Götz in eighth, who scored his first points of the season.
António Félix da Costa took ninth for BMW, passing the ailing Vietoris for the position near the end of the race, leaving the pole-sitter to take home a single point for tenth.
BMW’s Augusto Farfus put in a fighting drive during the race but ultimately failed to finish in the points, having to settle for 11th position, having lost out to Da Costa late on.
Nico Müller was the last of the classified finishers due to having been handed a drive-through penalty for early contact with fellow Audi racer Mike Rockenfeller. The Swiss had been pushing for eighth in the opening laps of the race, but braked too late heading into Turn One and tagged the back of the Team Phoenix driver, who could only manage 19th by the chequered flag as a result.
Third Free Practice takes place at 09:00 CEST (08:00 BST) on Sunday, followed by qualifying for race two at 10:50 CEST (09:50 BST).
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 49 | 41:09.983 | 48.746 | 6 |
| 2 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 49 | 0.531 | 48.802 | 3 |
| 3 | 3 | Paul di RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 49 | 0.903 | 48.782 | 7 |
| 4 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 49 | 4.135 | 48.859 | 13 |
| 5 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 49 | 6.731 | 49.011 | 5 |
| 6 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 49 | 9.951 | 49.022 | 14 |
| 7 | 27 | Adrien TAMBAY |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 49 | 10.875 | 48.850 | 15 |
| 8 | 84 | Maximilian GÖTZ | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 49 | 13.501 | 49.021 | 17 |
| 9 | 13 | António Félix da COSTA |  |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 49 | 15.337 | 48.785 | 21 |
| 10 | 8 | Christian VIETORIS | |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 49 | 15.477 | 49.164 | 1 |
| 11 | 18 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 49 | 16.939 | 49.211 | 12 |
| 12 | 100 | Martin TOMCZYK | |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 49 | 17.699 | 49.164 | 23 |
| 13 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 49 | 17.985 | 48.976 | 8 |
| 14 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 49 | 18.674 | 49.055 | 11 |
| 15 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 49 | 19.208 | 49.080 | 16 |
| 16 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 49 | 19.571 | 48.916 | 20 |
| 17 | 10 | Timo SCHEIDER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 49 | 20.202 | 49.121 | 19 |
| 18 | 17 | Miguel MOLINA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 49 | 20.799 | 49.069 | 18 |
| 19 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 49 | 21.35 | 49.176 | 9 |
| 20 | 12 | Daniel JUNCADELLA | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 49 | 21.562 | 49.189 | 22 |
| 21 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 49 | 22.171 | 48.927 | 10 |
| R | 34 | Esteban OCON | |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 32 | 17 LAPS | 49.669 | 24 |
| R | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 22 | 27 LAPS | 48.986 | 2 |
| R | 6 | Robert WICKENS | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 19 | 30 LAPS | 49.041 | 4 |