Tom Blomqvist made it two successive pole positions for BMW at the Norisring in another tightly-fought DTM qualifying for race two, beating Mercedes-AMG Motorsport’s Robert Wickens by just 0.004 seconds in the 20-minute session.
The Anglo-Swede struck with just over two minutes remaining to secure his first pole position of the season after Wickens showed his credentials, with several drivers including race one winner Bruno Spengler, Maxime Martin, Lucas Auer, René Rast and Nico Müller aiming for the top spot.
Müller would end up third ahead of Spengler by a mere 0.016 seconds, as mere fractions separated all drivers in the top ten, who were covered by just 0.162 seconds.
Ekström was leading the hunt for pole position with 11 minutes remaining, before provisional pole position was changing by the second in the last 6 minutes. But the Swede would round out the top five after five laps of trying to get the better of Blomqvist.
Maritn, yesterday’s pole setter was seventh, ahead of Mike Rockenfeller, Timo Glock and René Rast, whose times were all covered by just 0.059 seconds, which was just another indication of how tight the lap times were.
Gary Paffett starts from 11th on the grid, ahead of defending champion Marco Wittmann and 2010 title winner Paul Di Resta.
Jamie Green, who is currently third in the standings behind Rast, was only able to go 14th fastest despite his best efforts around the 2.3-km circuit.
Augusto Farfus, who was also as high as fifth in the first half of qualifying, ended up 15th quickest behind the Briton, with Edoardo Mortara, Loïc Duval and Maro Engel rounding out the field for the second race.
The second race of the weekend starts at 1728 local time, lasting for 55 minutes plus one lap, with a mandatory pit stop to be made by all drivers.
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 21 | 47.252 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 6 | Robert WICKENS |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 47.256 | 0.004 |
| 3 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 22 | 47.289 | 0.037 |
| 4 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 21 | 47.305 | 0.053 |
| 5 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 47.329 | 0.077 |
| 6 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 22 | 47.344 | 0.092 |
| 7 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 22 | 47.355 | 0.103 |
| 8 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 22 | 47.395 | 0.143 |
| 9 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 47.400 | 0.148 |
| 10 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 47.414 | 0.162 |
| 11 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 22 | 47.495 | 0.243 |
| 12 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 21 | 47.503 | 0.251 |
| 13 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 24 | 47.510 | 0.258 |
| 14 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 23 | 47.526 | 0.274 |
| 15 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 22 | 47.534 | 0.282 |
| 16 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 24 | 47.612 | 0.360 |
| 17 | 77 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 22 | 47.814 | 0.562 |
| 18 | 63 | Maro ENGEL | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 24 | 47.890 | 0.638 |