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Zandvoort DTM: Marco Wittmann wins in all-BMW top seven

Reigning DTM champion Marco Wittmann claimed his first victory of the season at Zandvoort, as BMW broke its 2015 duck with a sweep of the top seven places

From second on the grid, Wittmann got the best of the start, moving down the inside of polesitter Augusto Farfus at Turn 1.

Farfus was shuffled down to fourth, as Antonio Felix da Costa and Maxime Martin also squeezed past through the opening corners.

Wittmann and da Costa edged away at the head of the field, and the Red Bull Formula 1 tester applied pressure throughout the 40-minute race.

He ramped up his efforts in the final 10 minutes - looking down the inside at Turn 1 on several occasions - but couldn't unseat Wittmann, who moves from 15th to sixth in the standings with the victory.

Second is, though, da Costa's first DTM podium, with his previous best race result eighth at the Hungaroring during his 2014 rookie campaign.

Having run the best part of two seconds behind the pair for the majority of the race, Martin settled for a quiet third-place finish.

Farfus finished fourth, after withstanding race-long pressure from Gary Paffett.

The Mercedes driver's challenge came to an end on the penultimate lap, as he made light contact with Farfus's BMW and ran wide on the outside of Turn 7.

He skated through the gravel trap and eventually finished 11th.

That elevated Bruno Spengler, Timo Glock and Tom Blomqvist to fifth, sixth and seventh, completing BMW's rout as Blomqvist claimed his maiden DTM points.

Mike Rockenfeller was eventually the best non-BMW driver in eighth place, ahead of fellow Audi pilot Nico Muller, while Mercedes' Pascal Wehrlein claimed the final point.

Championship leader Jamie Green's race ended in the Turn 9 gravel, after running wide in his Audi while in sixth position.

With Mattias Ekstrom finishing outside of the points in 13th, Green's advantage remains at 11 points.

Green's demise prompted the first use of the DTM's virtual safety car equivalent, slow zones.

ANALYSIS: How DTM's slow zones work

Adrian Tambay was deemed to have sped within the zone and was handed a drive-through penalty, having been on track to score a point.

Paul di Resta's race ended on the opening lap, the Scot finding the back of Robert Wickens' Mercedes and then the tyre wall amid a concertina at Gerlachbocht.

As a result, the opening 10 minutes of the race were run under traditional safety car condtions.

Wickens eventually retired late due to the rear-end damage, while opening lap wounds accounted for Edoardo Mortara and Miguel Molina, and Martin Tomczyk retired with a brake problem in the day's only downer for BMW.

Follow the weekend's second Zandvoort DTM race as it happens with AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live from 1.15pm UK time on Sunday

RESULTS - 25 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Marco Wittmann RMG BMW 42m30.240s
2 Antonio Felix da Costa Schnitzer BMW 0.464s
3 Maxime Martin RMG BMW 2.229s
4 Augusto Farfus RBM BMW 3.768s
5 Bruno Spengler MTEK BMW 4.514s
6 Timo Glock MTEK BMW 6.054s
7 Tom Blomqvist RBM BMW 7.273s
8 Mike Rockenfeller Phoenix Audi 7.837s
9 Nico Muller Rosberg Audi 8.677s
10 Pascal Wehrlein HWA Mercedes 9.041s
11 Gary Paffett ART Mercedes 12.217s
12 Christian Vietoris HWA Mercedes 12.906s
13 Mattias Ekstrom Abt Audi 15.738s
14 Timo Scheider Phoenix Audi 17.847s
15 Maximilian Gotz Mucke Mercedes 20.492s
16 Daniel Juncadella Mucke Mercedes 24.636s
17 Lucas Auer ART Mercedes 25.656s
18 Adrien Tambay Abt Audi 30.023s
- Jamie Green Rosberg Audi Retirement
- Robert Wickens HWA Mercedes Retirement
- Miguel Molina Abt Audi Retirement
- Edoardo Mortara Abt Audi Retirement
- Martin Tomczyk Schnitzer BMW Retirement
- Paul Di Resta HWA Mercedes Retirement


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