Best yet sixth for McNish.

Allan McNish drove through the pain barrier as the DTM headed to Oschersleben at the weekend to secure his best finish yet in the German touring car series.

Just a week after taking a podium finish at Le Mans, McNish started the 44-lap race from eighth place on the 20-car grid but took a strong sixth place - despite discomfort due to a shoulder injury.

"I tweaked my shoulder on Friday when I had a power steering problem and was given a massage and acupuncture by the Audi doctor just before the race," he said. "My mechanics also cut away some of the seat to lessen the pressure on my shoulder which helped although the pain worsened during the race and ultimately affected my back and arm which made driving uncomfortable."

McNish, who led for three laps during the first stage of the two compulsory pit-stop sequences, finished 26secs behind race winner Gary Paffett who held off a hard-charging Mattias Ekstrom in the closing stages to score his second DTM win of the season.

Jamie Green took third ahead of a three car train for fourth place, Bernd Schneider and pole man Tom Kristensen managing to finish ahead of McNish.

"The beginning of the race was very difficult because we'd decided to complete a long opening stint before stopping for tyres which I eventually did on lap 22 - exactly half distance," he said. "Although this meant I had to conserve my tyres until I pitted, this was a perfect team strategy. It was a good race for me, my best DTM result to date, and more points."