At the beginning of the race, WRT Audi’s Ferdinand Habsburg led the sphere from fellow entrance row starter Rast, with Nico Muller getting the leap on each Robin Frijns and Fabio Scherer to maneuver as much as third place.

There was drama on lap 5 when BMW’s Jonathan Aberdein rear-ended Scherer going into Flip 5, with the WRT driver then accumulating an harmless Frijns who was operating forward of the 2.

All three drivers retired from the race, with Frijns’ specifically struggling a giant blow to his titles hopes with what was his second DNF in as many rounds.

Not lengthy after the race went again underneath inexperienced, the BMWs of Lucas Auer and Philipp Eng got here collectively at Flip 3, two corners after Auer was hit by Audi debutant Benoit Treluyer.

Eng needed to pull throughout the monitor after the front-right aspect of his BMW caught hearth, whereas each Auer and Treluyer additionally retired from the race after returning to the pits.

Following one other security automobile interval brought on by the 2 crashes, the race resumed on lap 11 with Habsburg main from Rast, Muller, Mike Rockenfeller and Jamie Inexperienced in an all-Audi prime 5.

Habsburg and Muller peeled into the pits on lap 13, with Rast and Rockenfeller following the 2 a lap later. This turned out to be the deciding second of the race as each Rast and Rockenfeller bought the overcut on their fellow Audi drivers, leaping to first and second place respectively.

Each Habsburg and Muller managed to clear Rockenfeller after he locked up at Flip 5, however neither may reply to Rast’s tempo, the two-time championship cruising to a 11-second win.

With that outcome, he accomplished a clear sweep of victories within the two rounds at Zolder, placing himself nicely away from title rivals Muller and Frijns heading into the season finale at Hockenheim.

Behind, Habsburg started to fade within the closing levels of the race, permitting Muller to clear him with ease on the last chicane on lap 26 and restrict the injury to in-form man Rast.

Kubica shined at Zolder to complete a shock third, securing a primary podium in an in any other case troublesome rookie season with BMW’s buyer workforce ART.

The Polish driver was as much as sixth by the point the race resumed on lap 11 after two early security automobile intervals, and bought the leap on Rockenfeller and Inexperienced by making a late cease on lap 18.

10 laps later he handed the struggling WRT of Habsburg, ending as the highest driver from the BMW fold in third.

BMW’s Timo Glock rose from 14th on the grid to complete fourth on the flag, forward of the Audis of Inexperienced and Rockenfeller.

Sheldon van der Linde was categorized eighth for BMW, whereas his stablemate Marco Wittmann efficiently held off WRT’s Harrison Newey to take ninth.

Habsburg was final of the categorized finishers in 10th in a race that noticed six totally different retirees after being pressured to make an unscheduled second pitstop late within the race.

Race outcomes to observe