Mercedes-AMG Motorsport’s Robert Wickens took his first pole position of the 2017 DTM season at the Lausitzring, with his last-lap attempt around the 3.476-km circuit just 0.024 seconds ahead of BMW Team RBM’s Tom Blomqvist.
The Canadian put his C63 AMG Coupé in prime position with a 1:16.299, whilst Blomqvist was getting quicker in the last five minutes, as times were rapidly decreasing.
Blomqvist would end up leading a British 2-3-4, ahead of best Audi Sport driver Jamie Green and 2005 champion Gary Paffett.
Wickens would score his first points in the new qualifying format with three to his credit, as did Blomqvist with two points, whilst Paffett narrowly missed out on the point taken by Green by 0.042 seconds.
Maxime Martin would make it two M4 DTMs in the top five behind Paffett, as the Belgian was initially in front at the half way point, but was just 0.080 seconds of pole position.
The 20-minute session saw all 18 drivers separated by just 0.828 seconds, with the top nine just 0.161 seconds apart.
René Rast took another strong spot on the grid for this afternoon’s race in sixth, ahead of Audi stablemates Nico Müller and Mattias Ekström, whilst Augusto Farfus took another well-deserved top ten qualifying result in ninth.
Defending champion Marco Wittmann was having another difficult weekend, having put the #11 Red Bull M4 DTM in tenth place, ahead of Mike Rockenfeller.
Bruno Spengler was 12th quickest, ahead of Hockenheim race two runner-up Timo Glock, whilst current points leader Lucas Auer has a lot of work to do from 15th place, having been slower than Audi’s Loïc Duval. Mercedes’ Maro Engel and Edoardo Mortara will line up at the back of the ultra-competitive grid.
The Stuttgart ranks will remain the heaviest cars on the grid at 1,130kgs following the performance weight allocation post-qualifying, with BMW on 1,120kgs and Audi Sport having the lightest cars of all, five kilos lighter than the Munich contingent.
Race two gets the action underway at 1518 local time, lasting for 55 minutes plus one lap, including a mandatory pitstop.
Q1 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 6 | Robert WICKENS |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:16.299 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:16.323 | 0.024 |
| 3 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 14 | 1:16.326 | 0.027 |
| 4 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:16.368 | 0.069 |
| 5 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:16.379 | 0.080 |
| 6 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:16.406 | 0.107 |
| 7 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:16.409 | 0.110 |
| 8 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:16.441 | 0.142 |
| 9 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:16.460 | 0.161 |
| 10 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:16.579 | 0.280 |
| 11 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:16.651 | 0.352 |
| 12 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:16.662 | 0.363 |
| 13 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:16.704 | 0.405 |
| 14 | 77 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 15 | 1:16.710 | 0.411 |
| 15 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:16.812 | 0.513 |
| 16 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:16.813 | 0.514 |
| 17 | 63 | Maro ENGEL | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:16.889 | 0.590 |
| 18 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:17.127 | 0.828 |