Mercedes’ Lucas Auer topped the timesheets on home soil in first practice for the DTM at the Red Bull Ring, going quickest by a comfortable margin of four tenths of a second ahead of Audi’s Jamie Green.
Auer hit the ground running in the half-hour session, rising to the top of the times with an effort of 1 minute 24.287 seconds after just ten minutes, which in itself would have been good enough to end the session as the fastest driver.
However, the Austrian then went even quicker in the final minutes of the session, giving himself a comfortable margin at the top on a circuit where he has never previously won in the DTM.
Pascal Wehrlein was third fastest in his Mercedes, ahead of team-mate Daniel Juncadella in fifth.
Having enjoyed a perfect weekend last time out, René Rast put his Audi near the sharp end in fifth, less than a tenth of a second ahead of championship leader Gary Paffett’s Mercedes in seventh.
Audi’s Nico Müller, Mercedes’ Paul di Resta and the Audi duo of Loïc Duval and Mike Rockenfeller completed the top ten, the latter being the only other driver within a second of Auer’s lap.
It proved to be a difficult session for BMW, with Augusto Farfus the best-placed driver for the Munich marque in 12th position.
Audi, meanwhile, only had one driver not inside the top ten, which was Dutchman Robin Frijns in 11th.
Five-time WRC champion Sébastien Ogier made a promising start to his DTM weekend, posting the 17th fastest time, out of 19 cars, in his Mercedes, with the Frenchman lapping 1.6 seconds off the pace.
Second practice is scheduled to get underway at 08:30 CEST (07:30 BST) on Saturday.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 18 | 1:24.185 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:24.608 | 0.423 |
| 3 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 22 | 1:24.758 | 0.573 |
| 4 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 19 | 1:24.814 | 0.629 |
| 5 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:24.821 | 0.636 |
| 6 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 20 | 1:24.880 | 0.695 |
| 7 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:24.922 | 0.737 |
| 8 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 22 | 1:24.925 | 0.740 |
| 9 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:25.002 | 0.817 |
| 10 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:25.140 | 0.955 |
| 11 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 19 | 1:25.198 | 1.013 |
| 12 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 1:25.205 | 1.020 |
| 13 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 21 | 1:25.447 | 1.262 |
| 14 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:25.485 | 1.300 |
| 15 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 1:25.614 | 1.429 |
| 16 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 22 | 1:25.694 | 1.509 |
| 17 | 17 | Sébastien OGIER | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:25.881 | 1.696 |
| 18 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 1:25.929 | 1.744 |
| 19 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 21 | 1:26.055 | 1.870 |