Paul Di Resta scores his first victory of the year at the Hungaroring

Mercedes AMG driver Paul Di Resta drove a strategic race to take his first win of the season at the Hungaroring, finishing ahead of BMW drivers Timo Glock and Bruno Spengler.

At the start, René Rast made his pole position count, holding on to first place. Fellow Audi driver Jamie Green tried to get ahead of his team-mate, but was stuck on the outside at Turn 2 and was overtaken by Mattias Ekström.

BMW’s Tom Blomqvist and Mercedes’ Maro Engel collided at Turn 2 on the first lap, with Blomqvist spinning on track, while Spengler was the first driver to come in for his pit stop at the end of lap one. Paul Di Resta and BMW’s Timo Glock completed their pit stops at the end of lap six.

The safety car was soon called into action as Maxime Martin stopped at Turn 3 with damage after collecting Blomqvist at the first lap incident. Spengler came for a second pit stop at the end of lap nine, taking advantage of the safety car period.

The race was restarted on lap 11, with Ekström getting ahead of Rast. BMW’s Augusto Farfus and Mercedes’ Lucas Auer collided at Turn 2 after being pushed by Loïc Duval, with both falling to the back of the pack.

Robert Wickens went wide at Turn 14 after suffering a front-left puncture, with the Canadian trying to recover to the pits but was forced to retire.

Ekström led a tight Audi pack formed by Rast, Green, Mike Rockenfeller and Duval, as Bruno Spengler was charging through the pack, already up to ninth place by lap 15. The Swede was the first of the leaders to change his tyres, followed by Rockenfeller and Blomqvist, with Rast increasing his pace.

Jamie Green completed his tyre change on lap 21, but was undercut by Rockenfeller, who was up to a virtual second place just under a second behind Ekström. The Briton fell into the hands of Edoardo Mortara, who tried to overtake at the chicane, making contact with the Briton. The Italian received a warning for the incident.

Further ahead, Mike Rockenfeller overtook Ekström for position at Turn 2 on lap 23, while Rast completed his obligatory pit stop. Rocky, now in fifth position, would then start a charge to catch up to the podium positions.

Maro Engel was the last to take his stop, dropping from fourth to 14th, handing Rockenfeller another position.

Paul Di Resta went on to score his first victory of the season, and the eighth of his DTM career, followed by Timo Glock and Bruno Spengler, who had to defend hard from Rockenfeller during the final laps of the race.

Mattias Ekström was fifth, followed by Rast and Green. Gary Paffett was eighth for Mercedes, with BMW’s Marco Wittmann in ninth, and Edoardo Mortara completing the top ten.

Auer continues to lead the championship on 69 points, eight clear of Jamie Green, with Rockenfeller now up to third in the standings.