"It feels just great to have secured my first DTM podium finish," he said afterwards. "I had a great race and the battles with Ekstrom start to become kind of a routine matter. My start was okay but not extraordinary. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in lap 31 and Ekstrom used the opportunity to pass me. Nevertheless, it's a great result for me and the team."
Further back DTM veteran, Bernd Schneider was fourth, ahead of pole sitter, Kristensen, who had an abysmal start. When the lights went off, the seven-time Le Mans winner didn't get off the line and dropped back to 19th position, while Green took the early lead from fourth on the grid, followed by his brand-mate, Paffett.
Allan McNish and Laurent Aiello came in sixth and seventh respectively, the latter though was slowed by a bizarre incident on the opening few laps.
"My passenger door opened early in the race," he explained, "therefore, I was hampered by a massive oversteer. Following my first pit stop, my car handled really well and I could make up ground. After my second stop, I even succeeded in matching the pace of the leaders. Altogether, I'm really pleased with the result."
The final point went to Marcel Fassler.
Of the rest, Spa winner, Mika Hakkinen was a notable retirement. He was hampered early on by a mulled pit stop and a short time afterwards - on lap ten - he went off the 'island'. The car was damaged in the incident and he returned to the pits and retired.
Former
F1 rivals Jean Alesi and Heinz-Harald Frentzen also had less than rosy races, coming home in 13th and 14th places respectively.
The next DTM race will be held on July 17 at the Norisring - the only street circuit on the schedule.
