BMW’s António Félix da Costa took a commanding pole position for the penultimate race of the 2016 DTM season, as the Portuguese driver was 0.100 seconds clear of Audi Sport’s Miguel Molina.
The Team Schnitzer driver posted his best time three minutes from the end of the 20-minute session, with Team RBM’s Tom Blomqvist completing the top three, who were split by 0.134 seconds.
All 24 drivers were separated by 1.018 seconds, from pace setter da Costa to Daniel Juncadella, who rounds out the back end of the field along with Audi’s Adrien Tambay.
Points leader Marco Wittmann starts on the second row of the grid in fouth alongside Blomqvist, whilst chief rival Edoardo Mortara will start eighth in the 40-minute race this afternoon.
Maxime Martin made it four BMWs in the top five with fifth place, whilst Augusto Farfus and Timo Glock bolstered the Munich brand’s ranks in seventh and ninth, with 2013 champion Mike Rockenfeller slotting in between the pair.
Nico Müller, who was fastest in second free practice, aided Audi’s charge towards another constructors’ crown by going tenth fastest, with the Ingolstadt brand ending up with four RS5 DTMs in the top ten.
Mercedes showed signs of struggling on pure flying lap pace, as Paul Di Resta was the fastest of the Stuttgart contingent in 12th place, with Gary Paffett just 0.090 seconds behind.
Maximilian Götz was the next best-placed of the Mercedes drivers in 16th, ahead of Christian Vietoris and Felix Rosenqvist. Lucas Auer and Robert Wickens were 21st and 22nd fastest
Jamie Green starts behind the pair in 14th, with his title chances for a second season now potentially out of reach, as the Briton will start ahead of two-time champion Timo Scheider.
Martin Tomczyk, who is being investigated for blocking, was 19th fastest ahead of 2012 champion Bruno Spengler. The 2011 champion was later handed a five-place grid penalty for blocking Green during qualifying
The title hinges in the balance, as Marco Wittmann has a chance to wrap up the title this afternoon, but the action will be unpredictable when the lights go out.
Audi will now gain five kilos of performance weight, making them the heaviest car on the grid with 1125kgs. BMW also gain five kilos at 1117.5kgs, making them just 2.5 kilos lighter than Mercedes, who drop to 1120kgs for the afternoon’s proceedings.
The 17th and penultimate race of the 2016 DTM season starts at 1458 CEST (BST + 1), lasting for 40 minutes plus one lap.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 13 | António Félix da COSTA |  |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:32.344 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 17 | Miguel MOLINA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:32.444 | 0.100 |
| 3 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:32.508 | 0.164 |
| 4 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:32.512 | 0.168 |
| 5 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:32.574 | 0.230 |
| 6 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:32.620 | 0.276 |
| 7 | 18 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:32.631 | 0.287 |
| 8 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:32.662 | 0.318 |
| 9 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:32.700 | 0.356 |
| 10 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:32.704 | 0.360 |
| 11 | 72 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:32.726 | 0.382 |
| 12 | 3 | Paul di RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 7 | 1:32.794 | 0.450 |
| 13 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 7 | 1:32.884 | 0.540 |
| 14 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:32.908 | 0.564 |
| 15 | 10 | Timo SCHEIDER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:32.918 | 0.574 |
| 16 | 84 | Maximilian GÖTZ | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:32.922 | 0.578 |
| 17 | 8 | Christian VIETORIS | |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:32.956 | 0.612 |
| 18 | 88 | Felix ROSENQVIST |  |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:33.018 | 0.674 |
| 19 | 100 | Martin TOMCZYK | |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:33.149 | 0.805 |
| 20 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:33.168 | 0.824 |
| 21 | 6 | Robert WICKENS | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:33.238 | 0.894 |
| 22 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:33.254 | 0.910 |
| 23 | 27 | Adrien TAMBAY |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:33.285 | 0.941 |
| 24 | 12 | Daniel JUNCADELLA | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:33.362 | 1.018 |