Hakkinen wins chaotic Lausitz race

The Finn led for the majority of the race, but two safety car periods caused confusion, as the safety car failed to pick up the race leaders, giving them an advantage over the rest of the field.

Paul di Resta followed Hakkinen home in second place to take the lead in the championship, while Bruno Spengler completed an all-Mercedes podium.

Hakkinen took the lead at the start from polesitter Spengler, who also lost out to di Resta on the first lap.

As the Finn led comfortably, di Resta was passed by Spengler and Bernd Schneider in the early stages, but the Scottish driver was able to get back ahead during the pit stops.

During the first safety car period, which was triggered by Markus Winkelhock crashing at the final corner, the safety car picked up the car in seventh place as several drivers opted to make both of their mandatory pit stops under caution.

This tactic cost Mattias Ekstrom though, as the Audi driver came into the pits while they were closed, and he was forced to make a third stop, dropping him down to 10th place.

The race was disjointed as the top six ran more than 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack, but the safety car was out again as officials attempted to rectify the situation

While the field was now closed up, Hakkinen and di Resta had three lapped cars between themselves and third-placed Spengler, and by the time the Canadian had passed the backmarkers he was too far behind to mount a challenge.

Timo Scheider had been leading the second group, and he benefited the most from the second safety car period to climb up to fifth behind reigning champion Schneider by the end.

Jamie Green lost track position with an early pit stop, but the Mercedes driver eventually worked his way back up to sixth, ahead of Mathias Lauda, who scored his first DTM points.

Paffett had a tough afternoon battling in the midfield, but the 2005 champion survived high-speed contact with Premat which forced the Frenchman to retire, and he then snatched eighth place back from Martin Tomczyk in the closing stages to score a single point.

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver            Make       Time
 1.  Mika Hakkinen     Mercedes   1h 09:10.219
 2.  Paul Di Resta     Mercedes   +      1.679
 3.  Bruno Spengler    Mercedes   +      4.175
 4.  Bernd Schneider   Mercedes   +      8.714
 5.  Timo Scheider     Audi       +     13.076
 6.  Jamie Green       Mercedes   +     14.453
 7.  Mathias Lauda     Mercedes   +     20.107
 8.  Gary Paffett      Mercedes   +     23.161
 9.  Martin Tomczyk    Audi       +     23.742
10.  Mattias Ekstrom   Audi       +     24.071
11.  Adam Carroll      Audi       +     24.829
12.  Susie Stoddart    Mercedes   +     1 Lap
13.  M.Rockenfeller    Audi       +     1 Lap
14.  Lucas Luhr        Audi       +     1 Lap
15.  Vanina Ickx       Audi       +     1 Lap
16.  Daniel La Rosa    Mercedes   +     2 Laps
17.  Christian Abt     Audi       +     4 Laps

NOT CLASSIFIED:

     Driver            Make       Laps
     Alexandre Premat  Audi        23
     M.Winkelhock      Audi        12
     A.Margaritis      Mercedes     0
     
Fastest lap: Ekstrom, 1:19.884 on lap 42