Robert Wickens became the ninth different pole sitter in the current Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season after scoring pole position for Mercedes for the first race at Zandvoort in The Netherlands.
Despite having been just 12th fastest in second practice, Wickens leapt to the top of the times in the final seconds of qualifying to become the ninth different pole sitter of the current season – marking a new DTM record.
BMW Team RMG’s Marco Wittmann was second fastest, just over a tenth behind, despite improving his times on both of his final runs.
Mercedes’ Christian Vietoris ended the session in third, his second best starting position of the season, ahead of second practice pace-setter Gary Paffett in fourth.
The leading Audi driver was Jamie Green in fifth, with the Team Rosberg driver just ahead of his Team Abt stable-mate Edoardo Mortara in sixth. Both drivers had to work hard to improve their times, having languished outside the top twenty with just a couple of minutes remaining, before improving.
Green had pushed hard to go even faster on his final flying lap, but the Brit ultimately over-stepped the mark and ran wide through the Turn 7 gravel.
Esteban Ocon equalled his best qualifying result of the season in seventh, making it four Mercedes drivers in the top ten at a circuit where BMW were so dominant in 2015.
BMW Team Schnitzer’s António Félix da Costa was eighth, with Audi’s Mattias Ekström and BMW’s Timo Glock completing the top ten.
Such was the speed of improvement in the closing minutes of the session that Audi’s Adrien Tambay, who had gone fastest of all with just over two minutes on the clock, ultimately ended the session in 11th position.
Nico Müller, who qualified down in 23rd position, was one of a number of recent form drivers to struggle in the session, with the Swiss racer enduring a complete spin at Turn 7 on his final flying lap.
Race one takes place at 18:08 CEST (17:08 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 6 | Robert WICKENS |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:30.727 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:30.843 | 0.116 |
| 3 | 8 | Christian VIETORIS | |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 7 | 1:30.857 | 0.130 |
| 4 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 6 | 1:30.947 | 0.220 |
| 5 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 7 | 1:30.953 | 0.226 |
| 6 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 7 | 1:31.099 | 0.372 |
| 7 | 34 | Esteban OCON |  |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 6 | 1:31.144 | 0.417 |
| 8 | 13 | António Félix da COSTA |  |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:31.149 | 0.422 |
| 9 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 7 | 1:31.164 | 0.437 |
| 10 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:31.173 | 0.446 |
| 11 | 27 | Adrien TAMBAY | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:31.217 | 0.490 |
| 12 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:31.281 | 0.554 |
| 13 | 12 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 6 | 1:31.327 | 0.600 |
| 14 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 7 | 1:31.341 | 0.614 |
| 15 | 84 | Maximilian GÖTZ | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 6 | 1:31.389 | 0.662 |
| 16 | 100 | Martin TOMCZYK | |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:31.395 | 0.668 |
| 17 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER | |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:31.626 | 0.899 |
| 18 | 17 | Miguel MOLINA | |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 4 | 1:31.665 | 0.938 |
| 19 | 10 | Timo SCHEIDER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 7 | 1:31.672 | 0.945 |
| 20 | 3 | Paul di RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:31.725 | 0.998 |
| 21 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:31.741 | 1.014 |
| 22 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 6 | 1:31.822 | 1.095 |
| 23 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 7 | 1:31.872 | 1.145 |
| 24 | 18 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:31.911 | 1.184 |