Paul di Resta headed a Brit 1-2 and a Mercedes 1-2-3 in first practice for the DTM at the Hockenheimring, with Gary Paffett in second and Lucas Auer in third.
Di Resta, who finished 11th overall in last year’s DTM standings, was more than tenth clear of compatriot Paffett, having posted his time just before the halfway stage of the session.
Paffett had himself posted his best time around the same stage, ending up 0.171 seconds behind the Scot, with third-placed Auer, the early session pace-setter, the same interval further back still.
Mike Rockenfeller was the best of the Audi drivers in fourth, ahead of stablemates Nico Müller in fifth and defending champion René Rast in sixth.
Returning champion Pascal Wehrlein, who last raced in the series in 2015 before moving across to Formula 1, was seventh quickest, ahead of fellow Mercedes returnee Daniel Juncadella in eighth.
Mattias Ekström, competing in a seventh Audi just for this one event, was ninth, whilst tenth-placed Loïc Duval completed the top ten in his Audi.
Robin Frijns in 12th was the best-placed rookie for Audi, just ahead of BMW’s rookie Joel Eriksson in 13th. The other series newcomer, Austrian Philipp Eng, propped up the timesheets in 19th, 1.516 seconds off the pace in his BMW M4 DTM.
Second practice takes place at 09:00 CEST (08:00 BST) on Saturday morning.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 15 | 1:33.962 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 16 | 1:34.133 | 0.171 |
| 3 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:34.324 | 0.362 |
| 4 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:34.525 | 0.563 |
| 5 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:34.559 | 0.597 |
| 6 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 19 | 1:34.611 | 0.649 |
| 7 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 22 | 1:34.663 | 0.701 |
| 8 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:34.726 | 0.764 |
| 9 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:34.853 | 0.891 |
| 10 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:34.949 | 0.987 |
| 11 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:34.978 | 1.016 |
| 12 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:34.997 | 1.035 |
| 13 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:35.007 | 1.045 |
| 14 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 19 | 1:35.057 | 1.095 |
| 15 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:35.060 | 1.098 |
| 16 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 18 | 1:35.188 | 1.226 |
| 17 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:35.301 | 1.339 |
| 18 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 17 | 1:35.319 | 1.357 |
| 19 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:35.478 | 1.516 |