Reigning DTM champion, Mattias Ekstrom took the win at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz Sunday.
Ekstrom, who started from P5, made up two places at the start and he eventually triumphed by just 0.401 seconds to give Audi their third win of the year. The result moves him back into the lead in the drivers' championship, one point ahead of Gary Paffett, who had to settle for second.
"This race resembled a 50-lap qualifying session," said the Swede at the finish, after taking the eighth DTM win of his career.
"It was my strategy to drive as fast as possible while avoiding the slightest mistake at the same time. This worked out quite well. Today, my team, my car and I are the winners. The race was extremely tough as Gary pressurised me all the time. But thanks to our great pit stops and strategy I succeeded in winning the race."
Paffett, who shadowed Ekstrom through-out the race, conceded he had no choice but to settle for the eight points.
"Mattias and I underlined why we're the championship leaders today," said the Brit. "It was one of the closest and fairest races of the entire season. There were only two options to pass Mattias - he had to make a mistake or I had to push him off the track. But that's not the style and the level we are dealing with one another. In consideration of my seventh grid position, it's a great result to have finished second. Prior to the race already I was aware that there was only one possibility to finish ahead of Mattias: to win the race."
Ekstrom's team-mate Tom Kristensen rounded out the top three, to take the final spot on the podium, 3 seconds adrift of the battle for the lead by the finish, after clutch problems during his second pit-stop dropped him back.
"I was the man who had the best seat to watch the battle for the lead," he noted. "Both Ekstrom and Paffett delivered in superior style and I would have loved to be involved in this battle. But due to a clutch problem during my second pit stop my engine stalled and I lost a lot of time."
