Paffett takes Zandvoort victory

Scheider's slow getaway handed the British Mercedes pair an advantage they would hold throughout the race, as they coasted away from the rest of the field.

The reigning champion dropped as low as 10th on the opening lap, but thanks to some clever strategy and generous Audi team-mates he was able show his blistering speed and recover to take third place.

Mattias Ekstrom had to settle for a distant fourth. The Swede had been unable to match the pace of Miguel Molina in the first stint. Molina let him by after the first stops, but then had to do it again after he got back ahead during the second stops.

The race stewards then placed the pair under investigation for team orders in the closing stages. It is the third time in four years that Audi has been at the centre of a team orders row at this track.

Behind the top five, Audi's Oliver Jarvis held off a queue of cars in the closing stages to take sixth.

That bunch included Bruno Spengler, who spent most of the race scrapping with eventual podium finisher Scheider. However, the Mercedes driver lost out heavily in the second round of pitstops, and only salvaged seventh place after a robust move on Mike Rockenfeller resulted in the Audi spinning off.

Rockenfeller's plight allowed Martin Tomczyk to snatch a point from a difficult weekend. However, the German had to fight hard in the closing laps to keep Ralf Schumacher and Jamie Green at bay.

Pos  Driver             Car           Time/Gap
 1.  Gary Paffett       Mercedes  1h07m04.346s
 2.  Paul di Resta      Mercedes      + 0.396s
 3.  Timo Scheider      Audi         + 12.238s
 4.  Mattias Ekstrom    Audi         + 18.659s
 5.  Miguel Molina      Audi         + 19.310s
 6.  Oliver Jarvis      Audi         + 20.568s
 7.  Bruno Spengler     Mercedes     + 20.886s
 8.  Martin Tomczyk     Audi         + 21.706s
 9.  Ralf Schumacher    Mercedes     + 22.113s
10.  Jamie Green        Mercedes     + 22.880s
11.  Alexandre Premat   Audi         + 33.747s
12.  David Coulthard    Mercedes     + 36.578s
13.  Mike Rockenfeller  Audi         + 44.528s
14.  Katherine Legge    Audi         + 48.892s
15.  Susie Stoddart     Mercedes     + 49.235s
16.  Cong Fu Cheng      Mercedes   + 1m19.178s

Retirements:

     Maro Engel         Mercedes  2 laps