Jamie Green took his second pole position in a row in qualifying for the second DTM race at the Red Bull Ring, putting his Audi ahead of fellow RS5 racer René Rast as Mercedes’ title contender Lucas Auer ended up in last.
As the session drew to a close it looked as if René Rast was going to secure yet another pole, before Green put in a lap of 1:minute 21.955 seconds to become the only driver to drop below the 1 minute 22 seconds mark.
It gives Green a further three points in his title fight with fellow Audi racer Mattias Ekström, who could only manage eighth in the session. The result also guarantees that the title fight will go to the season finale, with Ekström unable to lift the trophy even if he wins and Green retires.
Rast ended up in second, ahead of the leading BMW of Marco Wittmann in third, who was just over two tenths off the pace. Had Wittmann not improved at the end then it could have been an Audi 1-2-3-4 in Spielberg.
Third and fourth placed drivers Mike Rockenfeller and Nico Müller posted identical times, with third thus going to Rockenfeller by virtue of having posted his time ahead of his Audi colleague.
Gary Paffett was the only Mercedes driver to break into the top ten with his lap which was 0.288 seconds from pole in what can only be described as a testing session for the Suttgart marque. With Austrian Auer, who is 31 points adrift of the points lead, in 18th and last on the grid, Mercedes face an uphill task to keep their title hopes alive at Auer’s home race.
BMW’s Timo Glock was seventh, having failed to improve on his final flying lap when he made a mistake at the penultimate turn which almost compromised Rast’s final flying lap.
Behind eighth-placed Ekström was the BMW of Tom Blomqvist in ninth, who improved substantially on his qualifying effort from Saturday. BMW’s Bruno Spengler completed the top ten.
Race two takes place at 15:18 CEST (14:18 BST).
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:21.955 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:22.010 | 0.055 |
| 3 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:22.156 | 0.201 |
| 4 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:22.206 | 0.251 |
| 5 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:22.206 | 0.251 |
| 6 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 14 | 1:22.243 | 0.288 |
| 7 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:22.268 | 0.313 |
| 8 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:22.337 | 0.382 |
| 9 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:22.390 | 0.435 |
| 10 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:22.400 | 0.445 |
| 11 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:22.405 | 0.450 |
| 12 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:22.429 | 0.474 |
| 13 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:22.454 | 0.499 |
| 14 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:22.497 | 0.542 |
| 15 | 63 | Maro ENGEL | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:22.526 | 0.571 |
| 16 | 6 | Robert WICKENS | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:22.527 | 0.572 |
| 17 | 77 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:22.629 | 0.674 |
| 18 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:22.682 | 0.727 |