Gary Paffett extended his lead in the race for the 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers’ title, as the Mercedes driver took his 23rd career win and third victory of the season in race one at Circuit Park Zandvoort this afternoon(Saturday, July 14th).
The Briton was able to keep out in front, despite a Safety Car intervention, which saw Audi Sport’s Nico Müller hit the tyre barrier off turns two and three just past the half-hour mark.
Paffett would lead a Stuttgart 1-2-3-4 across the finish line, with Paul Di Resta finishing 1.422 seconds behind the Briton, whose lead now extends to 127 points.
Lucas Auer would take a well-deserved podium, finishing third ahead of Pascal Wehrlein, who completed the top four.
It was a good result for local hero Robin Frijns, who secured his best overall finish so far, taking fifth place, ahead of title protagonist Timo Glock.
Behind Glock, a further haul of solid points for BMW Motorsport came in the form of Marco Wittmann, Augusto Farfus and Joel Eriksson, who secured seventh to ninth in the finishing order, whilst Jamie Green completed the top ten in his Audi RS5 DTM.
Loïc Duval, who was one of two drivers that had opted to pit twice during the race, finished 0.337 seconds behind the Team Rosberg driver, but ahead of 2012 champion Bruno Spengler.
Edoardo Mortara was able to make his way up the order to 13th at the flag, having started last, and would stay ahead of Philipp Eng and Mike Rockenfeller, who completed the top fifteen.
Daniel Juncadella would find himself at the bottom end of the order down in 16th, ahead of René Rast, who pitted with just two laps to go, whilst Nico Müller would end up 16 laps down off the winner, as a result of his accident.
The Swiss driver has also been reported to the stewards regarding crossing the track.
Final free practice for the DTM race weekend at Zandvoort gets underway at 0915 CET (BST + 1 hour), lasting for 30 minutes.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 34 | 57:29.724 | 1:32.317 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 34 | 1.422 | 1:32.486 | 3 |
| 3 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 34 | 1.865 | 1:32.534 | 4 |
| 4 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 34 | 2.290 | 1:32.381 | 2 |
| 5 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 2.697 | 1:32.497 | 7 |
| 6 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 4.122 | 1:32.645 | 5 |
| 7 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 6.863 | 1:32.704 | 6 |
| 8 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 7.201 | 1:32.814 | 10 |
| 9 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 7.867 | 1:32.892 | 15 |
| 10 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 8.548 | 1:32.560 | 17 |
| 11 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 8.885 | 1:32.428 | 16 |
| 12 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 10.099 | 1:33.098 | 12 |
| 13 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 34 | 10.458 | 1:33.095 | 18 |
| 14 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 34 | 10.787 | 1:32.866 | 13 |
| 15 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 11.444 | 1:33.047 | 11 |
| 16 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 34 | 11.918 | 1:32.937 | 14 |
| 17 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 34 | 39.538 | 1:32.876 | 9 |
| R | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | DNF | 1:32.395 | 8 |