Qualifying for the second Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race of the weekend saw Gary Paffett take pole position on home soil and a further three points towards his points tally at Brands Hatch this morning (Sunday, August 12th), bettering Daniel Juncadella’s qualifying time from yesterday by 0.121 seconds.
The Briton led a top three lockout from Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM, ahead of Paul Di Resta, and 2015 champion Pascal Wehrlein, who were separated by a mere 0.086 seconds.
Defending champion René Rast factored into the top five in the latter stages of the 20-minute session, being the fastest of Audi Sport’s ranks in fourth.
Lucas Auer was on the cusp on making it a top four from Stuttgart, but was denied by Rast by 0.083 seconds, ahead of Robin Frijns, who completed the top six.
Augusto Farfus, who was second in yesterday’s race, was the best of the BMW drivers down in seventh, ahead of France’s Loïc Duval, who set the pace in final free practice earlier this morning.
Duval was under investigation by the stewards for impeding Wehrlein during qualifying, who will start from 14th on the grid. However, no further action was taken regarding the incident.
Marco Wittmann and Philipp Eng would complete the top ten, who were split by just 0.356 seconds after the completion of the session.
Jamie Green had a better run in qualifying, as the Briton was 11th, ahead of 2013 champion Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Glock.
Nico Müller will have Joel Eriksson alongside for company on row eight, ahead of Edoardo Mortara and Bruno Spengler, who complete the starting order for todays’ race.
The second race of the Brands Hatch DTM race weekend gets underway at 1333 local time, lasting for 55 minutes plus one lap.
Q1 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 7 | 1:17.948 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 7 | 1:18.021 | 0.073 |
| 3 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:18.034 | 0.086 |
| 4 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:18.052 | 0.104 |
| 5 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:18.135 | 0.187 |
| 6 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:18.140 | 0.192 |
| 7 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:18.182 | 0.234 |
| 8 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:18.205 | 0.257 |
| 9 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:18.244 | 0.296 |
| 10 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:18.304 | 0.356 |
| 11 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:18.315 | 0.367 |
| 12 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:18.330 | 0.382 |
| 13 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:18.508 | 0.560 |
| 14 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 7 | 1:18.517 | 0.569 |
| 15 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:18.607 | 0.659 |
| 16 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:18.654 | 0.706 |
| 17 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:18.670 | 0.722 |
| 18 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:19.115 | 1.167 |