The Force India F1 test driver started the race in Germany from pole position and maintained the lead by the first corner, ahead of Spengler, only to lose it after the first pit stop. The Brit lost plenty of time in the pits and handed the lead to the Canadian driver, while also being overtaken by Audi's Timo Scheider.
The reigning DTM champion started putting in some quick laps behind Spengler and forced him to pit early for his second mandatory pit stop, after which he really put the hammer on to try and overtake the Canadian. The strategy eventually paid off, as Scheider continued his surge and managed to later maintain his position ahead of Spengler after his second pit stop.
During all this time, Di Resta stayed on the track and tried to increase his lead ahead of Scheider. The German driver would suffer a tire puncture that would send him to 11th place in the race, leaving only Spengler to battle against his teammate for the win. Di Resta scored consecutive fastest laps to build a comfortable time margin ahead of Spengler, after which he pitted for the last time. He returned to the track in the same leading spot, which he kept until the chequered flag.
Following Scheider's tire issue, his Audi teammate Mattias Ekstrom was promoted to 3rd place. The Swede kept his cool ahead of Gary Paffett and eventually prevented Mercedes from walking away with a sweep, maintaining 3rd place until the finish line.
Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Premat ended the race in 5th and 6th places respectively, while followed by Jamie Green and Martin Tomczyk for the last point-scoring positions on Sunday.
In the overall classification, there are now only 2 drivers with real chances of winning the title, Spengler leading from Di Resta by only 7 points. Gary Paffett, the 3rd placed driver overall, is now 16 points behind Spengler with 2 races to go.
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