After a difficult first day at Brands Hatch for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race weekend for Loïc Duval, the Frenchman was fastest in the final free practice session, setting the best time of a 1:18.760.
Duval set his best laptime within the last five minutes of the session, but was only 0.090 seconds ahead of the Mercedes of Scotland’s Paul Di Resta, who relinquished his 100 percent scoring success rate yesterday, having finished 16th.
Timo Glock took third place, meaning all three brands were represented in the top three, split by only 0.143 seconds after the conclusion of the 20-minute session.
Nico Müller was fourth fastest, ahead of defending champion René Rast and Jamie Green, in what was a better session for the Ingolstadt manufacturer, who had all six drivers in the top ten.
Race one winner Daniel Juncadella was the next best-placed of the Mercedes contingent in seventh, ahead of Edoardo Mortara, who stopped on the pit lane exit, before restarting his engine to continue his preparation for today’s action.
Mike Rockenfeller and Robin Frijns completed the top ten, who were closely-packed, separated by only 0.508 seconds that took place at the 3.908-km circuit.
Yesterday’s third place finisher Lucas Auer was in 11th, ahead of BMW’s Augusto Farfus and Pascal Wehrlein.
Two-time champion Marco Wittmann was further down the order in 13th, ahead of Munich stablemate Philipp Eng.
Gary Paffett, who leads the standings with 156 points, was 0.181 seconds behind the Austrian, ahead of Sweden’s Joel Eriksson and Bruno Spengler, whose difficult weekend in the United Kingdom continues. The 2012 champion was 1.216 seconds off the pace set by Duval.
Qualifying for the second race at Brands Hatch gets underway at 1120 local time, lasting for 20 minutes.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 14 | 1:18.760 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:18.850 | 0.090 |
| 3 | 16 | Timo GLOCK |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:18.903 | 0.143 |
| 4 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:18.996 | 0.236 |
| 5 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:19.009 | 0.249 |
| 6 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:19.041 | 0.281 |
| 7 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:19.155 | 0.395 |
| 8 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:19.163 | 0.403 |
| 9 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:19.190 | 0.430 |
| 10 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:19.268 | 0.508 |
| 11 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:19.367 | 0.607 |
| 12 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:19.371 | 0.611 |
| 13 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 14 | 1:19.427 | 0.667 |
| 14 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:19.486 | 0.726 |
| 15 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:19.503 | 0.743 |
| 16 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:19.684 | 0.924 |
| 17 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:19.789 | 1.029 |
| 18 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:19.976 | 1.216 |