By alley - Oct 17, 2015, 9:01 AM ET

DTM: Wehrlein wins title, Scheider wins race

Mercedes driver Pascal Wehrlein is the 2015 DTM champion, having secured the title in a scrappy Hockenheim race won by Audi's Timo Scheider.

Formula 1 reserve driver Wehrlein crossed the line in eighth, more than enough to wrap up the championship with one race to spare, as the men looking to snatch it from him had days to forget.

Mattias Ekstrom started the race best of the group in seventh, but was slow off the line and then turned around at the hairpin by Robert Wickens on the third lap, before charging back to ninth.

Bruno Spengler made a fast start from 18th to run ninth early, but was handed a drive-through penalty for first-lap contact with Adrien Tambay and eventually retired.

Edoardo Mortara clashed with Audi stablemate Miguel Molina on the first lap, pitted to replace a puncture, turned Timo Glock around, served a drive-through penalty and later retired.

That all meant Wehrlein would have won the title regardless. He dropped from 13th to 16th on the first lap, after a slow start and running wide at Turn 2, but progressed over the remainder of the 40 minutes, despite some scary moments while fighting BMW's Martin Tomczyk.

A day before his 21st birthday, Wehrlein becomes the youngest-ever DTM champion. Meanwhile, one of the oldest drivers in the field – 36-year-old Scheider – dominated the race.

From second on the grid, he grabbed the lead from polesitter Maxime Martin early, then romped away to lead by nearly five seconds, before winning by 2.8s. Having started the day 23rd in the standings, Scheider's victory is his first since October 2010.

Jamie Green got past Martin and finished second, his first podium since the Lausitzring round in May. Paul di Resta took fourth, ahead of Mike Rockenfeller, Marco Wittmann, Tom Blomqvist and Wehrlein.

The race was delayed by a safety car period following a clash between Gary Paffett and Molina, which forced the Briton out of the race.

RESULTS - 26 LAPS:

Pos	Driver	Team	Car	Gap
1	Timo Scheider	Phoenix	Audi	42m27.725s
2	Jamie Green	Rosberg	Audi	2.875s
3	Maxime Martin	RMG	BMW	3.756s
4	Paul Di Resta	HWA	Mercedes	4.865s
5	Mike Rockenfeller	Phoenix	Audi	11.708s
6	Marco Wittmann	RMG	BMW	15.768s
7	Tom Blomqvist	RBM	BMW	16.972s
8	Pascal Wehrlein	HWA	Mercedes	22.034s
9	Mattias Ekstrom	Abt	Audi	23.719s
10	Maximilian Gotz	Mucke	Mercedes	24.137s
11	Antonio Felix da Costa	Schnitzer	BMW	25.405s
12	Christian Vietoris	HWA	Mercedes	25.597s
13	Daniel Juncadella	Mucke	Mercedes	26.780s
14	Miguel Molina	Abt	Audi	31.566s
15	Nico Muller	Rosberg	Audi	32.108s
16	Martin Tomczyk	Schnitzer	BMW	41.299s
17	Lucas Auer	ART	Mercedes	43.679s
18	Timo Glock	MTEK	BMW	2 Laps
19	Bruno Spengler	MTEK	BMW	6 Laps
-	Edoardo Mortara	Abt	Audi	Retirement
-	Robert Wickens	HWA	Mercedes	Retirement
-	Augusto Farfus	RBM	BMW	Retirement
-	Gary Paffett	ART	Mercedes	Retirement
-	Adrien Tambay	Abt	Audi	Retirement