Zolder DTM: Eng scores maiden win as race turns upside down

The two R-Motorsport-run Aston Martins of Jake Dennis and Daniel Juncadella stopped almost simultaneously halfway into the race, with the former pulling off at the entry of the pitlane and forcing a safety car while Juncadella moved off the track and stopped. That meant the leading trio of Bruno Spengler, Marco Wittmann and Rene Rast were caught out, having not yet taken their mandatory pitstop.

Spengler had looked a candidate for the win after a stunning start from third on the grid allowed him to lead into Turn 1, before pitting from the lead a lap after the safety car period ended. Rast's race also unravelled when he pulled into the pits 11 laps from the end with a technical problem, after reporting a lack of top speed.

By then Eng had already moved into the lead when the order shuffled out, having started seventh on the grid. The BMW driver had climbed to fifth before stopping on lap 11 of 39 and was further boosted by Robin Frijns earning a five second stop/go penalty for a jump start. 

Once Eng moved to the front, he was able to canter into a lead of over three seconds to seal his maiden DTM victory. Behind him, Joel Eriksson and Nico Muller battled for second with the Audi driver repeatedly putting pressure on the BMW ahead to no avail.

Eriksson sealed the position when Muller ran wide on the final lap as the BMW driver crossed the line just ahead of Muller. Loic Duval finished fourth, despite a nervy moment when the WRT Audi of Jonathan Aberdein barged past with door-to-door contact that pushed the Frenchman wide and Aberdein into retirement with front-right bodywork damage.

Mike Rockenfeller sealed fifth with just two laps to go when he swept around the inside of Audi stablemate Jamie Green at Turn 1. Pole-sitter Wittmann, who had looked set for a podium finish at least until the safety car's arrival, had to settle for seventh.

Aston’s Paul di Resta finished an impressive eighth from a starting position of 16th after opting to make his mandatory pitstop on the first lap and taking a 'free' second stop during the safety car. The fellow Aston Martin of Ferdinand Habsburg was ninth ahead of Spengler.

Sheldon van der Linde, Frijns, Timo Glock and Pietro Fittipaldi filled out 11th through 14th and the last of the classified drivers.

Cla	Driver		Car	Time	Gap
1	Philipp Eng		BMW M4 Turbo DTM	59'34.758
2	Joel Eriksson		BMW M4 Turbo DTM	59'43.403	8.645
3	Nico Müller		Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	59'43.587	8.829
4	Loic Duval		Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	59'52.917	18.159
5	Mike Rockenfeller		Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	59'59.260	24.502
6	Jamie Green		Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1:00'07.076	32.318
7	Marco Wittmann		BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1:00'07.504	32.746
8	Paul di Resta		Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1:00'10.633	35.875
9	Ferdinand Habsburg		Aston Martin Vantage DTM	1:00'13.616	38.858
10	Bruno Spengler		BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1:00'14.632	39.874
11	Sheldon Van Der Linde		BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1:00'15.329	40.571
12	Robin Frijns		Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1:00'17.479	42.721
13	Timo Glock		BMW M4 Turbo DTM	1:00'20.430	45.672
14	Pietro Fittipaldi		Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	1:00'44.537	1'09.779
	Jonathan Aberdein		Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	42'45.547	12 Laps
	René Rast		Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	43'38.785	12 Laps
	Daniel Juncadella		Aston Martin Vantage DTM	17'20.779	27 Laps
	Jake Dennis		Aston Martin Vantage DTM	17'24.475	27 Laps
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