Paul di Resta set the pace in first practice for the DTM at the Norisring, with the Mercedes driver emerging with the quickest time in the final five minutes on a circuit that was continually getting faster.
Di Resta’s time came amid a flurry of activity at the top of the timesheets in the final minutes of the session, after rainfall before the half-hour practice created a challenging environment for drivers to start the weekend.
There were dramas inside the first ten minutes, when BMW’s Timo Glock and marque colleague Bruno Spengler made contact at the first corner, resulting in the door falling off Glock’s car.
The incident caused a brief red flag stoppage whilst the debris was cleared away, and the two drivers have been referred to the stewards of the meeting as a result, with both drivers taking no further part in the session.
Di Resta’s Mercedes colleague Edoardo Mortara was second, having been consistently inside the top ten during the session, with defending champion René Rast the best of the Audi drivers in third.
Austrian Philip Eng headed up a BMW trio in fourth, ahead of Marco Wittmann and Augusto Farfus, who had a brief moment at the top of the times.
Second practice gets underway at 08:30 CEST (07:30 BST) on Saturday.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 29 | 52.227 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 26 | 52.291 | 0.064 |
| 3 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 31 | 52.341 | 0.114 |
| 4 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 52.435 | 0.208 |
| 5 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 23 | 52.480 | 0.253 |
| 6 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 28 | 52.579 | 0.352 |
| 7 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 29 | 52.697 | 0.470 |
| 8 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 28 | 52.795 | 0.568 |
| 9 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 25 | 53.096 | 0.869 |
| 10 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 29 | 53.298 | 1.071 |
| 11 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 28 | 53.337 | 1.110 |
| 12 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 28 | 53.381 | 1.154 |
| 13 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 53.434 | 1.207 |
| 14 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 53.520 | 1.293 |
| 15 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 28 | 53.653 | 1.426 |
| 16 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 26 | 53.755 | 1.528 |
| 17 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 56.250 | 4.023 |
| 18 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 6 | 57.464 | 5.237 |