Bruno Spengler ended a four-year victory drought as he triumphed in wet/dry conditions at the Norisring, giving BMW its first DTM win of the season.
Spengler surged forwards from third on the grid to snatch the lead off the line and controlled proceedings throughout.
A heavy rain shower prior to the start drenched the circuit but the track dried rapidly, enabling slick tyres to be fitted for the second half of the race.
Spengler completed his mandatory stop with ease and maintained the lead, though came under increasing pressure from BMW rival and erstwhile pole sitter Maxime Martin.
Spengler duly responded by pulling clear, as Martin drifted back into the clutches of Audi’s Mattias Ekström.
Ekström made a move on Martin into Turn 1 but drifted slightly wide, enabling the BMW driver to use the cutback to stay ahead, completing a 1-2 for the manufacturer
Ekström rounded out the podium positions, in front of reigning champion Marco Wittmann and Timo Glock, who survived contact exiting Turn 1, which accounted for Mercedes pair Robert Wickens and Lucas Auer.
Tom Blomqvist was sixth while Jamie Green was the first driver to take on slick tyres, moving into seventh.
Edoardo Mortara held fourth but dropped to eighth after being spun by Mike Rockenfeller at Turn 1, the latter deemed culpable and handed a drive through penalty, which demoted him out of the points.
Nico Muller and Gary Paffett rounded out the top 10, narrowly ahead of Paul di Resta, caught up in a lap one incident, and front-row starter René Rast, who was given a drive through for cutting the white line at pit exit.
Discussion about this post