Martin Tomczyk took his first DTM win for nearly two years with a faultless performance at Spielberg.
The German made a great getaway from pole position and stayed in front for most of the way, only dropping back while differing pit strategies came into play during the middle of the race.
Significantly, it was Phoenix Racing's first DTM victory for 11 years and its first as an Audi team. It also allowed Tomczyk to close to within three points of Bruno Spengler at the top of the championship.
Ralf Schumacher finished second, having overtaken Oliver Jarvis at the first round of pit stops. The Abt Audi driver spent more than two seconds longer stationary than his HWA Mercedes rival.
Schumacher, who had been over four seconds behind Tomczyk at half-distance, reduced his deficit to just 0.4s by the checkered flag and was followed home by Jarvis, who took his first podium finish of the year after an equally fine drive.
Spengler's was arguably the performance of the race. The Canadian made a fine start to move up from 12th to eighth on the opening lap, and then ran a 22-lap stint on his first set of tires. By the time all the pit stops had been completed, the HWA driver's mid-race pace had brought him up to fourth, and he spent the final nine laps trying to pass Jarvis – unsuccessfully – for the final podium spot.
Mike Rockenfeller (Abt) and Jamie Green (HWA) were next up, the latter having jumped ahead of Timo Scheider (Abt) at the first round of stops.
Scheider was forced to defend his seventh place from Gary Paffett during the final laps, the HWA man very quick on his final set of tires after falling back during the opening stint. Edoardo Mortara and Maro Engel should have been among them too, but tangled at the first corner, resulting in a spin to the rear of the field for the Rosberg Audi driver. Engel (Mucke Mercedes) was given a drive-through penalty for "causing an avoidable incident."
The worst race of all was endured by Mattias Ekstrom. After starting from the back of the grid, the Abt driver had got only as high as 16th when he made his first stop, but pulled away without his front right-wheel properly attached. He was an instant retirement.
Results - 38 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Martin Tomczyk Phoenix Audi 55m55.117s
2. Ralf Schumacher HWA Mercedes + 0.462s
3. Oliver Jarvis Abt Audi + 2.749s
4. Bruno Spengler HWA Mercedes + 2.999s
5. Mike Rockenfeller Abt Audi + 10.364s
6. Jamie Green HWA Mercedes + 10.984s
7. Timo Scheider Abt Audi + 12.179s
8. Gary Paffett HWA Mercedes + 12.660s
9. David Coulthard Mucke Mercedes + 14.246s
10. Renger van der Zande Persson Mercedes + 15.669s
11. Miguel Molina Abt Audi + 16.266s
12. Filipe Albuquerque Rosberg Audi + 19.608s
13. Susie Stoddart Persson Mercedes + 26.311s
14. Maro Engel Mucke Mercedes + 26.805s
15. Christian Vietoris Persson Mercedes + 28.071s
16. Edoardo Mortara Rosberg Audi + 35.893s
17. Rahel Frey Phoenix Audi + 43.420s
Retirements:
Mattias Ekstrom Abt Audi 12 laps