Marco Wittmann has won the Saturday DTM race at Brands Hatch, holding off Rene Rast in a close contest, while Rast's closest title rival Nico Müller finished third.
Wittmann effectively captured the lead when he passed Rast at Paddock Hill Bend in a brave move that saw him force his way past Rast and Jamie Green. Wittmann then took the lead as the pitstops cycled through, and held off a chasing Rast in the closing stages to take victory.
If you're gonna overtake, do it in style…! Through the middle at Paddock Hill Bend! ðŸ˜#DTMBrandsHatch pic.twitter.com/uOaCkdbLAD
— DTM (@DTM) August 10, 2019
In the early stages, an Aston Martin held the lead as Paul di Resta was extremely quick off the line. The Scotsman started fourth, but surged past Wittmann, Rast and Duval to capture the lead into turn one.
It looked like a fair start, but it was later determined that his wheels were rolling before the lights went out, and he was handed a five-second pit stop penalty. Di Resta ultimately retired in the final laps of the race with a mechanical issue.
Behind the three podium finishers, an intense battle formed between Robin Frijns, Loic Duval, Philipp Eng and Mike Rockenfeller. Eng and Frijns both pitted late and made the best of their new tyres by storming up the field.
Frijs managed to pass both Duval and Rockenfeller to take fourth. Duval held off Eng, with the pair finishing fifth and sixth respectively, with Rockenfeller came home in eighth. The top ten was completed by Sheldon van der Linde, Jonathan Aberdein and Daniel Juncadella.
Aberdein and Juncadella both made a strong recovery en route to their top ten finish. Aberdein started from the pit lane after his qualifying crash, while Juncadella completed a drive-through penalty after he made contact with Timo Glock at the start. Glock then bumped into Jake Dennis, ending the Briton's race in mere seconds as he was smashed into the pit wall.
The Saturday race only saw sixteen cars on the grid instead of the regular eighteen. Pietro Fittipaldi was forced to sit the race out as a result of his qualifying crash, while Joel Eriksson also did not make the start.
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