The second race of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters weekend at Brands Hatch saw Paul Di Resta lead home a British and Mercedes 1-2 finish at the Kent-based circuit, taking his second win of the season, 1.019 seconds ahead of compatriot Gary Paffett.
It was the pair’s second 1-2 finish of the season after the first race at Circuit Park Zandvoort, with defending champion René Rast completing the podium, having closed on the Stuttgart pair until the end of the race, despite an early Safety Car phase slowing proceedings on lap one.
Robin Frijns’ Audi would end up in the barriers on the Cooper Straight, after Lucas Auer’s car went sideways across the front of the Dutchman’s Audi, pushing him wide. It brought out the Safety Car for just three laps, with Frijns ending up with another disappointing finish down in 12th.
Augusto Farfus was unable to avoid the incident between the pair, with his M4 DTM suffering significant damage to the left front bumper. Unfortunately, the Brazilian would opt to retire on lap 21, with the stewards deciding no further action was to be taken.
2015 champion Pascal Wehrlein was fourth a further ten seconds adrift from the trio at the front, whilst Marco Wittmann held off the charging Mike Rockenfeller for fifth place, after a great, clean battle between the pair.
Philipp Eng took another top ten finish, finishing 2.398 seconds behind the battling duo in seventh, as Auer would overtake Spain’s Daniel Jucadella in the latter stages of the race for eighth, whilst Nico Müller was the last driver to score points this time.
Timo Glock was less than a second behind the Swiss driver in 11th, with the German driver now 76 points behind points leader Paffett.
Joel Eriksson was also pressuring Frijns to take 12th, but the Swede was unable to do so in the latter stages, thanks to the stern defence used by the Audi Sport driver.
Jamie Green would incur the wrath of the stewards with a drive-through penalty, after an incident involving the Briton and Marco Wittmann, saw the two-time champion pushed off onto the grass heading into Surtees.
The Team Rosberg driver was on course for making it a British clean sweep on the podium with a 27 second lead going into the pits, but the drive-through penalty relegated the Leicester driver to 15th at the finish.
Loïc Duval had another race to forget, as the Frenchman would suffer left rear tyre failure on the Brabham Straight just minutes before the end of the race, putting him at the end of the field as the last of the classified finishers.
Edoardo Mortara would also retire from the race three laps from the end, bringing the Italian’s weekend to a premature conclusion.
The DTM heads to Misano in just two weeks’ time for another historic first, with the first set of night races to take place under the floodlights, as Gary Paffett continues to lead the standings after a good points haul on home soil.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 40 | 56:23.282 | 1:19.943 | 2 |
| 2 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 40 | 1.019 | 1:19.979 | 1 |
| 3 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 1.376 | 1:20.072 | 4 |
| 4 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 40 | 11.484 | 1:20.237 | 3 |
| 5 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 40 | 14.312 | 1:20.249 | 9 |
| 6 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 14.841 | 1:20.545 | 12 |
| 7 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 40 | 17.239 | 1:20.065 | 10 |
| 8 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 40 | 17.972 | 1:20.306 | 5 |
| 9 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 40 | 18.505 | 1:20.223 | 14 |
| 10 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 20.798 | 1:20.768 | 15 |
| 11 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 40 | 21.764 | 1:20.492 | 13 |
| 12 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 22.007 | 1:20.085 | 6 |
| 13 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 40 | 23.197 | 1:20.498 | 16 |
| 14 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 40 | 31.998 | 1:20.971 | 18 |
| 15 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 33.359 | 1:20.052 | 11 |
| 16 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 38 | + 2 LAPS | 1:20.132 | 8 |
| 17 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 37 | + 3 LAPS | 1:20.453 | 17 |
| R | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 18 | DNF | 1:22.319 | 7 |