Edoardo Mortara continued his good run of form this weekend by taking pole position for the first Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race at the Norisring, amidst a red flag stoppage that saw defending champion Rene Rast eliminated with 11 minutes to go.
Mortara would secure pole position by only 0.001 seconds from BMW’s Philipp Eng, with Marco Wittmann rounding out the top three, who were separated by just 0.023 seconds around the 2.3km circuit.
Gary Paffett, who lies second in the championship by 11 points, was a further 0.005 seconds off Wittmann in fourth, as Paul Di Resta completed the top five.
Rast will start from last in the first race, as the German hit the barriers, bringing out the red flag with 11 minutes to go.
Daniel Juncadella and Lucas Auer made it five from Mercedes in the top six, with the drivers being separated by a mere 0.091 seconds, one of the closest-fought Norisring qualifying sessions in recent times.
Pascal Wehrlein will start from 14th place, in a field that was only split by six tenths of a second at the end of the 20-minute session.
Timo Glock, Bruno Spengler and Nico Muller completed the top ten, with Sweden’s Joel Eriksson missing out on another top ten starting position by 0.024 seconds.
Augusto Farfus will start in 12th, ahead of Britain’s Jamie Green, whilst Loic Duval, Robin Frijns and Mike Rockenfeller completing the order ahead of Rast.
The first race of the weekend gets underway at 1330 local time (BST + 1 lap), lasting for 55 minutes plus one lap.
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 18 | 47.843 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 47.844 | 0.001 |
| 3 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 21 | 47.866 | 0.023 |
| 4 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 24 | 47.872 | 0.029 |
| 5 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 25 | 47.899 | 0.056 |
| 6 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 23 | 47.919 | 0.076 |
| 7 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 47.934 | 0.091 |
| 8 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 47.950 | 0.107 |
| 9 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 23 | 47.973 | 0.130 |
| 10 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 23 | 48.067 | 0.224 |
| 11 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 23 | 48.091 | 0.248 |
| 12 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 21 | 48.098 | 0.255 |
| 13 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 25 | 48.221 | 0.378 |
| 14 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 24 | 48.253 | 0.410 |
| 15 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 25 | 48.301 | 0.458 |
| 16 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 24 | 48.312 | 0.469 |
| 17 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 25 | 48.360 | 0.517 |
| 18 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 48.444 | 0.601 |