Paffett secures Mercedes double in first DTM 2012 race

Gary Paffett fought his way from sixth on the grid to first over the finishing line ahead of fellow Mercedes driver Jamie Green.
“It was a fantastic race and I had a fair and clean battle with Jamie. Really nice to secure a double victory,” said Paffett after the race.

Mattias Ekström started from pole position but lost the lead to Green early on after a mistake from the Swede. The Audi driver braked too late in to the second corner and was passed by Green, with Paffett making his way past not long after, demoting Ekström to third.

The fight for the lead then turned in to an internal Mercedes affair with Paffett getting past after the first pitstop. The both went side-by-side for a couple of corner, before Paffett was able to secure the lead and pulled away.

Christian Vietoris had a strong race from the back of the grid to fourth, getting past Mike Rockenfeller towards the end of the race. Rockenfeller secured fifth ahead of best BMW driver in the form of Andy Priaulx in sixth.

Ralf Schumacher crossed the line in seventh ahead of David Coulthard, with Miguel Molina and Filipe Albuquerque rounding off the top ten.

The first part of the race saw a lot of drama with BMW man Dirk Werner, who started third, getting pushed in to a spin by Schumacher. Bruno Spengler and Adrien Tambay were involved in the incident as well, resulting in a retirement for the both. Schumacher was given a drive through penalty for the incident.