Mercedes-AMG’s Gary Paffett has been crowned the 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion as title rival René Rast took a record sixth victory in a row.
Outgoing champion Rast got the jump on polesitter Marco Wittman at the start, taking the lead through turn one, from which he controlled the race en route to another win.
Paffett led the points coming into the final race, and stayed out of trouble to come home third behind Wittmann to become a double DTM champion.
The result means Mercedes-AMG take both the Drivers and Manufacturers Championship as they now bow out of the series.
Fellow Mercedes racer Paul Di Resta struggled for the majority of the weekend, and could only manage 14th in the second race, but finishes third overall in the championship standings.
Rast led the first half of the race with Wittmann close behind, but the latter opted to stay out longer than Rast and Paffett and dropped behind the pair after his stop.
Wittmann then closed in and overtook Paffett into the hairpin and set about catching Rast, but ultimately could not challenge the outgoing champion.
Audi duo Nico Müller and Robin Frijns both utilised a long first stint to come home fourth and fifth respectively .
Bruno Spengler led a quintet of BMW M4 DTM’s ahead of Augusto Farfus and rookies Philip Eng and Joel Eriksson, while Timo Glock rounded out the top ten.
Mike Rockenfeller and Loïc Duval also opted to elongate their first stint and progressed to 11th and 12th after their stops.
Rast’s victory took him to within just four points of Paffett’s championship, having been 93 points down on the standings lead before his six consecutive race victories.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 36 | 58:03.981 | 1:34.831 | 2 |
| 2 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 36 | 3.786 | 1:34.707 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 36 | 15.838 | 1:34.835 | 3 |
| 4 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 36 | 17.241 | 1:34.917 | 9 |
| 5 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 36 | 18.942 | 1:34.512 | 18 |
| 6 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 36 | 21.004 | 1:35.316 | 4 |
| 7 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 36 | 21.460 | 1:34.791 | 5 |
| 8 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 36 | 24.458 | 1:34.987 | 8 |
| 9 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 36 | 28.683 | 1:35.323 | 7 |
| 10 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 36 | 30.003 | 1:35.476 | 10 |
| 11 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 36 | 33.406 | 1:35.553 | 16 |
| 12 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 36 | 33.587 | 1:35.145 | 17 |
| 13 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 36 | 34.985 | 1:35.146 | 6 |
| 14 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 36 | 38.204 | 1:35.724 | 11 |
| 15 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 36 | 38.869 | 1:35.420 | 13 |
| 16 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 36 | 39.611 | 1:35.590 | 12 |
| 17 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 36 | 40.132 | 1:35.139 | 14 |
| 18 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 36 | 44.638 | 1:35.266 | 15 |