After a slightly delayed start to the third and final practice session at Hockenheim this morning, the likes of BMW and Audi have indicated to possess a clear edge over Mercedes, sharing the top ten places between them.
Once the session got underway, drivers initially struggled to heat up their tyres due to DTM’s recent ban on tyre blankets. This, in combination with the chilly ambient temperatures, led to a few spectacular off-track excursions and wild drifts by some.
BMW Team RBM driver Maxime Martin stormed to the top of the table early on in the session, once he felt comfortable with the car. The Belgian had an unfortunate race yesterday, finishing just outside the points after starting fifth on the grid.
As the field of 18 all felt good to take on the 4.574 kilometre long circuit at speed, as lap times quickly started to tumble. Nico Müller went quickest in his Abt Sportsline Audi, before Jamie Green found an additional three tenths on track, elevating the Team Rosberg driver to the top spot instead.
Eventually, Martin fought back to regain the fastest lap of the session with a 1:31.777, with none of his competitors being able to beat that benchmark.
When the 30-minute session came to an end, BMW and Audi beat the Mercedes cars left, right and center. DTM veteran Gary Paffett was the best from Stuttgart in eleventh – over a second adrift of Martin’s BMW.
Mike Rockenfeller, who took a welcome third place yesterday, put in another storming performance and finished with the second fastest time, followed by fellow Audi stablemate Green in third.
Yesterday’s winner Lucas Auer was only able to put his AMG C63 DTM Coupé 15th fastest at the end of the 30-minute session.
Qualifying for race 2 starts today at 12:20 CEST (11:20 BST) with race 2 itself commencing later at 16:18 CEST (15:18 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:31.777 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 15 | 1:32.000 | 0.223 |
| 3 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 15 | 1:32.143 | 0.366 |
| 4 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:32.231 | 0.454 |
| 5 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:32.400 | 0.623 |
| 6 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:32.526 | 0.749 |
| 7 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:32.546 | 0.769 |
| 8 | 77 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 16 | 1:32.715 | 0.938 |
| 9 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:32.731 | 0.954 |
| 10 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:32.789 | 1.012 |
| 11 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 18 | 1:32.800 | 1.023 |
| 12 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:32.831 | 1.054 |
| 13 | 63 | Maro ENGEL | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:32.988 | 1.211 |
| 14 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:33.202 | 1.425 |
| 15 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:33.432 | 1.655 |
| 16 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 22 | 1:33.451 | 1.674 |
| 17 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:33.620 | 1.843 |
| 18 | 6 | Robert WICKENS | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 18 | 1:33.957 | 2.180 |