Edoardo Mortara wins the first assault at Spielberg

Edoardo Mortara and Audi Sport were the winners this evening in the first race at the Red Bull Ring, host of the fifth round of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season. The Italian was faster than his rivals during the 40-minute sprint race, prevailing over Mercedes’ Pascal Wehrlein and Paul Di Resta, who completed the podium, whilst early leader Jamie Green was forced to retire.

At the start, Jamie Green passed Edoardo Mortara at the first corner taking the lead of the race. Pascal Wehrlein lost third position to Mercedes team-mate Paul Di Resta, with Christian Vietoris overtaking Augusto Farfus’s BMW behind.

On the second lap, Jamie Green had a problem with his rear left tyre, slowing down and dropping positions within the pack. The Briton would be forced into retirement, leaving Edoardo Mortara as the race leader. Pascal Wehrlein also recovered his second place, with Paul Di Resta now in third.

Robert Wickens experienced problems with his Mercedes C63 DTM, losing a lot of ground before coming into the pits, with the Canadian not rejoining the race.

Bruno Spengler forced his way past Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller, with the Canadian from BMW receiving a black and white flag for avoidable contact. Ahead of them, BMW’s Marco Wittmann took sixth position from the Mercedes of Gary Paffett, with the Briton returning the favour one lap later. Mattias Ekström was recovering ground, and soon overtook the reigning champion, then taking sixth place from Paffett soon after.

The positions were stable, with Edoardo Mortara keeping the lead over Pascal Wehrlein without allowing the German to get close. Behind, Mattias Ekström was closing in on Augusto Farfus in the last quarter of the race, lapping faster than the Brazilian.

The battle between Ekström and Farfus intensified, as both caught Vietoris, leading to a thrilling few final laps, with the three drivers starting the last minute of the race separated by less than a second.

On the final lap, Ekström released his full force over Farfus, making light contact as he switched back to the inside as the Brazilian made a move to cover, and overtook the Brazilian for fifth position.

At the chequered flag, Edoardo Mortara took his first win of the season. The Italian was followed by Pascal Wehrlein, with Paul Di Resta completing the podium.

Christian Vietoris was fourth, followed by Mattias Ekström, Augusto Farfus, Gary Paffett, Mike Rockenfeller, Marco Wittmann and Adrien Tambay completing the top 10.

DTM action resumes tomorrow at 11:00 CEST (GMT + 2) for the morning warm-up session.