Ahead of qualifying for race one this afternoon, Mike Rockenfeller secured back-to-back fastest times in the second Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters free practice session of the weekend at Hockenheim.
The 2013 champion topped the times for Team Phoenix with a 1:30.849, leading an Audi Sport top four, with the Ingolstadt marque dominating the 30-minute session.
Briton Jamie Green was just 0.135 seconds off Rockenfeller, with Team Abt Sportsline’s Nico Müller third, ahead of current points leader Mattias Ekström.
Paul Di Resta set the quickest time of the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport contingent, as the 2010 champion completed the top five.
Championship contender Rene Rast’s time of 1:31.225 placed him in sixth position for Audi Sport Team Rosberg, ahead of the Mercedes duo of Robert Wickens and Edoardo Mortara, who secured seventh and eighth respectively.
Maxime Martin was the fastest of the BMW drivers, with the Belgian’s best lap 0.501 seconds shy of Rockenfeller’s time.
Maro Engel rounded out the top ten for Team HWA, ahead of 2005 champion Gary Paffett, who was fractionally faster than defending champion Marco Wittmann, who could only manage 12th.
Wittmann’s stablemates Augusto Farfus and Timo Glock were 13th and 14th, in front of Lucas Auer, who currently sits sixth in the points standings.
Occupying the bottom three in the session was Bruno Spengler, Loic Duval and Tom Blomqvist, with the latter setting a time 1.072 seconds off Rockenfeller’s pace, highlighting how tight the session was.
Qualifying for the first race of the weekend at Hockenheim starts at 11:45 CEST, lasting for 20 minutes.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:30.849 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:30.984 | 0.135 |
| 3 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:31.115 | 0.266 |
| 4 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 15 | 1:31.143 | 0.294 |
| 5 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 14 | 1:31.207 | 0.358 |
| 6 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:31.225 | 0.376 |
| 7 | 6 | Robert WICKENS |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 16 | 1:31.238 | 0.389 |
| 8 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 14 | 1:31.277 | 0.428 |
| 9 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:31.350 | 0.501 |
| 10 | 63 | Maro ENGEL | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 16 | 1:31.359 | 0.510 |
| 11 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 17 | 1:31.401 | 0.552 |
| 12 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 14 | 1:31.405 | 0.556 |
| 13 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:31.430 | 0.581 |
| 14 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 14 | 1:31.460 | 0.611 |
| 15 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 14 | 1:31.569 | 0.720 |
| 16 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:31.608 | 0.759 |
| 17 | 77 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 16 | 1:31.848 | 0.999 |
| 18 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:31.921 | 1.072 |