Mercedes-AMG Motorsport took their second pole position of the 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season, as Austria’s Lucas Auer was narrowly ahead of BMW rookie Philipp Eng, with the pair being separated by just 0.007 seconds after the fast-paced session.
2012 champion Bruno Spengler, who won on BMW’s return to the series at the Brandenburg-based circuit, would complete the top three on the grid.
Pascal Wehrlein showed shades of his performance from the first practice session to put his Mercedes C63 AMG DTM Coupe alongside Spengler, but the 2015 champion was just 0.005 seconds behind him.
In a session that saw Nico Muller as the best of the Audi Sport drivers down in ninth place, points leader Timo Glock and Marco Wittmann were running well in both fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of the Mercedes pair of Edoardo Mortara and Paul Di Resta.
Mike Rockenfeller put his RS5 DTM into the top ten, but was over a tenth slower than Muller. It could have been another impressive showing from Sweden’s Joel Eriksson, but the youngster ended up just 0.001 seconds adrift of the 2013 champion after his best efforts.
Defending champion Rene Rast was unable to answer his rivals in a session that clearly showed further struggles for Audi, as he was 15th fastest, 0.818 seconds off the pace from Auer.
Rast starts behind the trio of Robin Frijns, Loic Duval and Gary Paffett, who were separated by 0.349 seconds, with all 18 competitors split by 1.177 seconds at the conclusion of the 20-minute session.
Brazil’s Augusto Farfus sarts from 16th place, ahead of Team Rosberg’s Jamie Green and Daniel Juncadella, who complete the grid for this afternoon’s race.
Race one of the weekend starts at 1330 local time (BST + 1 hour), lasting for 55 minutes plus one lap, with a mandatory pit stop required for all competitors.
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 11 | 1:37.343 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:37.350 | 0.007 |
| 3 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:37.513 | 0.170 |
| 4 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:37.518 | 0.175 |
| 5 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:37.534 | 0.191 |
| 6 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:37.544 | 0.201 |
| 7 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:37.580 | 0.237 |
| 8 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:37.825 | 0.482 |
| 9 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:37.860 | 0.517 |
| 10 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:37.965 | 0.622 |
| 11 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:37.966 | 0.623 |
| 12 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:37.986 | 0.643 |
| 13 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:38.113 | 0.770 |
| 14 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:38.135 | 0.792 |
| 15 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:38.161 | 0.818 |
| 16 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:38.210 | 0.867 |
| 17 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:38.326 | 0.983 |
| 18 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:38.520 | 1.177 |