Mercedes' Lucas Auer launched himself back into DTM title contention after claiming victory, his third of the season, during a wet race at the Nürburgring.
Auer, following two wins from the opening three races of the year, had not triumphed since, and slipped to sixth in the standings after a lacklustre weekend last time out at Zandvoort.
However, Auer stormed to pole at the Nürburgring and profited from a slice of good luck and team tactics to climb atop the podium once more, slicing his title deficit to just a single point.
A pre-race shower drenched the circuit and off the line BMW rival Augusto Farfus surged clear, and built a comfortable lead over Auer, who slotted into second position.
The circuit began to dry and several drivers switched to slicks with 20 minutes remaining, including race leader Farfus; as he did so, the rain began to fall once more.
The return of the rain thus split the field, with the seven drivers who stayed out effectively gaining a free stop over those who needed to return to the pits for another set of wet tyres.
Auer duly completed his stop without drama but was jumped by Paul di Resta, who emerged ahead after extending his first stint by two laps.
Di Resta, though, pulled aside for his Mercedes stable-mate on the penultimate run to the chicane, clearing Auer’s path to victory, and bringing him to within one point of title leader Mattias Ekström, who finished outside of the points.
Robert Wickens and Maro Engel completed a Mercedes 1-2-3-4, while René Rast led Audi’s charge in fifth, in front of Jamie Green and Edoardo Mortara.
Erstwhile leader Farfus trailed home eighth after his ill-timed pit stop, while Marco Wittmann and Gary Paffett, who were also skewered by the return of the rain, rounded out the top 10.
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