Zandvoort DTM: Edoardo Mortara takes epic victory

Championship leader Gary Paffett, meanwhile, was spun around by Martin Tomczyk during a mid-race burst of rain and finished behind his title rivals Jamie Green and Bruno Spengler as a result.

Mortara followed Mike Rockenfeller's Phoenix A5 during the opening stint of the race; both taking advantage of polesitter Timo Scheider stalling on the line and falling into the pack.

But the Italian's decision to make his first tyre change two laps before his German rival almost paid off, Rockenfeller sticking resolutely to the inside of the track at Tarzan after exiting the pits to hang on to his advantage.

However, following the second stops, a brief rain shower turned the race on its head as Rockenfeller - who had built up a four-second lead - lapped as many as 2s slower than his rival on three successive laps.

Mortara made his move for the lead at Tarzan on lap 32, making slight contact with Rockenfeller as they ran side-by-side briefly. Despite Rockenfeller remaining close as the track dried out, he could not pass the Rosberg car.

Mattias Ekstrom completed the all-Audi podium in his Abt car with Jamie Green fourth.

Green's HWA Mercedes appeared to be the fastest car on race pace during the early stages, but a pair of slow pitstops dropped him gradually from fourth to 11th. Some quick laps during the rain were the catalyst for his recovery.

Adrien Tambay dealt with a twitchy-looking Abt Audi to claim his best DTM finish in fifth place while BMW's Bruno Spengler kept up his title hopes with a great recovery to sixth from 18th on the grid.

Paffett, up from eighth on the grid, was later spun out of third spot during the rain; his HWA Mercedes slewing to the right under braking for Tarzan after a lock-up, and then acting as a brake for Martin Tomczyk's RMG BMW as he too struggled to slow down for the corner.

Tomczyk retired with the damage he sustained while Filipe Albuquerque, Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus all had to go off the track to avoid the spun Mercedes.

After resuming, Paffett was the fastest man on track in the damp and quickly climbed back into the top 10. He passed Dirk Werner, Ralf Schumacher and Augusto Farfus in the final five laps to finish seventh and remain 16 points ahead of Green in the standings with three races to go.

Werner overtook Schumacher and Farfus with a lap-and-a-half to go, with the German and the Brazilian completing the top 10.

Scheider did not make the finish, the German hitting the back of David Coulthard's Mucke Mercedes early on and then stopping when his damaged bonnet flew up and blocked his windscreen.

Robert Wickens and Miguel Molina collided twice on the run to the first corner; the Spaniard ending up beached in the gravel at Tarzan, while the Canadian was spun by Christian Vietoris two turns later and collected within seconds by the unsighted Rahel Frey. All three retired.

Results - 43 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car              Time/Gap
 1.  Edoardo Mortara     Rosberg Audi      1h16m17.679s
 2.  Mike Rockenfeller   Phoenix Audi          + 1.513s
 3.  Mattias Ekstrom     Abt Audi              + 8.417s
 4.  Jamie Green         HWA Mercedes         + 13.283s
 5.  Adrien Tambay       Abt Audi             + 21.313s
 6.  Bruno Spengler      Schnitzer BMW        + 26.397s
 7.  Gary Paffett        HWA Mercedes         + 33.791s
 8.  Dirk Werner         Schnitzer BMW        + 33.923s
 9.  Augusto Farfus      RBM BMW              + 34.706s
10.  Ralf Schumacher     HWA Mercedes         + 36.380s
11.  Roberto Merhi       Persson Mercedes     + 36.771s
12.  Susie Wolff         Persson Mercedes     + 43.135s
13.  Andy Priaulx        RBM BMW              + 53.127s
14.  Joey Hand           RMG BMW                + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Filipe Albuquerque  Rosberg Audi           34 laps
     Martin Tomczyk      RMG BMW                28 laps
     David Coulthard     Mucke Mercedes         22 laps
     Timo Scheider       Abt Audi                6 laps
     Christian Vietoris  HWA Mercedes             1 lap
     Miguel Molina       Phoenix Audi            0 laps
     Robert Wickens      Mucke Mercedes          0 laps
     Rahel Frey          Abt Audi                0 laps