Paffett wins but Scheider is the champ!

Gary Paffett won the final Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race of the year. But it was not enough. Timo Scheider finished second and claimed his second consecutive DTM title and Audi’s third consecutive DTM title!

Paffett took the lead on the first lap. The Mercedes driver had a hard battle with pole man Mattias Ekström, bashing panels all over for an intense first three laps.

Ekström was able to get past Paffett, only to be forced to retire in the pits a few laps later due to radiator damage sustained in the battle with Paffett.

Scheider followed Paffett closely for the entire race and finished only one second behind when the race was finished.

Paul di Resta claimed third and was close to Scheider at some parts of the race. But the Brit was unable to provide any serious challenge to Scheider.

The third place of di Resta and the retirement of Ekström enables di Resta to climb to third in the championship, passing Ekström who has not scored a single point in two races.

Alexandre Prémat took a fine fourth in the race after a smooth working pit stop strategy of his team.

The safety car was brought out eight laps from the end because of a big crash of Susie Stoddart. The Mercedes driver crashed in the first corner and was taken to the medical center for a check up.

Tom Kristensen did not get the end of his DTM career that he wanted. The Dane was pushed in to a spin by Mathias Lauda on the penultimate lap. Lauda got a 30 second penalty after the race because of the incident.