Red Bull Ring DTM: Rast wins as Green suffers late heartbreak

Green had led Rast throughout the race, the gap ebbing and flowing between the two, but the Briton's Audi got stuck in gear with three laps remaining.

Rast, Mike Rockenfeller and Nico Muller therefore completed an Audi 1-2-3, after Muller moved over to let Rockenfeller past into second place at the exit of Turn 4 on the final lap.

A safety car was called after Bruno Spengler, trying to outbrake Paul di Resta into the uphill Turn 3, clattered into Lucas Auer and spun the title-contending Mercedes driver around.

The caution had already been called before Auer got his crippled car going again, returning to the pits.

At this point Green and Rast had a large advantage over Muller, BMW's Marco Wittmann, Rockenfeller and points leader Mattias Ekstrom, but their advantage was slashed, with time for eight more laps of racing.

But both Wittmann and Ekstrom looked to be struggling for grip, Ekstrom having pitted at the end of the opening lap.

Sure enough, Wittmann was shuffled down the order after the restart, and Ekstrom briefly got up to fifth to complete an Audi top-five lockout.

But any chances of Audi manipulating the result to boost Ekstrom's championship bid still further were soon dispelled when Gary Paffett swept his Mercedes past the Swede into fifth.

Wittmann then came back at Ekstrom, the two making slight contact as Wittmann passed out of Turn 4, before Ekstrom muscled back past him at Turn 3.

With Green's problems dropping him out of the points, Ekstrom finished fifth behind Paffett, with Wittmann just ahead of BMW stablemate Timo Glock and the late-stopping Audi of Loic Duval, and Mercedes duo Paul di Resta and Robert Wickens completing the points.

A win for Green would have left him just eight points behind Ekstrom going into the Hockenheim finale, but instead Rast has now vaulted to second, and is 21 points adrift.

Race two result

Drivers' standings