Hungaroring DTM: Di Resta beats Auer in Race 1

Starting from pole, di Resta led off the line with Auer temporarily stealing second place from Nico Muller at Turn 2 with the Swiss coming back a corner later.

Both di Resta and Muller built a lead of around a second in the next five laps when Auer pitted.

Di Resta only reacted three laps later and, although he rejoined in provisional lead despite a sluggish stop, Auer on warmer tyres easily overtook him at Turn 2.

Muller changed tyres a lap later and was also in the lead out of the pits, but Auer was again able to make a move.

Di Resta also passed Muller, a short battle between the duo allowing Auer to lead by over two seconds.

But the Scotsman quickly closed in on his teammate and Auer did not fight when Di Resta moved past him before Turn 2.

With his lead not in danger for the last 15 minutes, di Resta took the chequered flag, albeit only half a second from Auer, first to take the fourth Mercedes win in five races this year.

Auer finished second with Muller holding off Rene Rast for the final podium position.

Rast was second behind Edoardo Mortara when the leading trio pitted and, after him and the Italian also changed tyres, the reigning champion made a forceful move on Mortara.

Gary Paffett finished sixth and took a seven-point championship lead as Timo Glock was only 14th.

Robin Frijns and Loic Duval were two of three Audi drivers staying out significantly longer than the rest of the field.

They enjoyed superior pace in the dying stages of the race, the duo ending up seventh and eighth respectively.

Fellow Audi driver Jamie Green took ninth, using the opposite strategy of pitting on the opening lap.

He was closely followed by Daniel Juncadella, who held off Mike Rockenfeller, the third late-pitting Audi, for 10th.

BMW endured a disappointing race as its best driver was Bruno Spengler in 12th and the rest of the line-up were in the final five positions.

Race 1 results:

Pos.	Driver	Car	Gap
1	Paul di Resta	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	34 laps
2	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	0.587
3	Nico Müller	Audi RS5 DTM	2.236
4	René Rast	Audi RS5 DTM	2.898
5	Edoardo Mortara	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	6.695
6	Gary Paffett	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	12.166
7	Robin Frijns	Audi RS5 DTM	15.009
8	Loic Duval	Audi RS5 DTM	22.754
9	Jamie Green	Audi RS5 DTM	25.829
10	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	26.844
11	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi RS5 DTM	27.249
12	Bruno Spengler	BMW M4 DTM	34.140
13	Pascal Wehrlein	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	37.007
14	Timo Glock	BMW M4 DTM	38.689
15	Augusto Farfus	BMW M4 DTM	39.001
16	Marco Wittmann	BMW M4 DTM	39.510
17	Joel Eriksson	BMW M4 DTM	40.534
18	Philipp Eng	BMW M4 DTM	46.994