Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller was fastest in the final free practice session of the weekend at the Nürburgring on Sunday morning, less than one hundredth of a second ahead of BMW’s Phillip Eng.
Although not as fast as the quickest lap on Saturday, Rockenfeller put in the best time of the session in the closing minute, edging out Eng by just 0.009 seconds, who had just moments earlier gone to the top of the times.
That left Eng in second, whilst race one winner and Saturday pole-man René Rast ended up in third, ahead of the leading Mercedes of Daniel Juncadella in fourth. All of the top four drivers were covered by less than a tenth of a second in a particularly close practice session on the dry Nürburgring short circuit.
Mercedes’ Paul di Resta, who is seeking to make up for a disastrous Saturday that saw him score no points, was fifth quickest, ahead of fellow Brit Jamie Green in sixth in his Team Rosberg Audi.
Lucas Auer, who had been the fastest driver after nine minutes, ended up with his Mercedes in seventh after only improving his time once thereafter, ahead of team-mate Edoardo Mortara in eighth.
The Audi of Nico Müller and the Mercedes of Pascal Wehrlein completed the top ten.
The BMW drivers struggled for pace more than the other marques in the session, with only Eng cracking the top ten. Two-time champion Marco Wittmann was the Munich marque’s next-best driver in 13th, whilst race one podium finisher Bruno Spengler was the slowest of all drivers, just over a second off the pace in 18th.
Qualifying is scheduled to get underway at 10:15 BST (11:15 CEST), followed by qualifying at 12:30 BST (13:30 CEST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 23 | 1:22.623 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 17 | 1:22.632 | 0.009 |
| 3 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:22.650 | 0.027 |
| 4 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 15 | 1:22.669 | 0.046 |
| 5 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 18 | 1:22.739 | 0.116 |
| 6 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 19 | 1:22.759 | 0.136 |
| 7 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:22.830 | 0.207 |
| 8 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 22 | 1:22.908 | 0.285 |
| 9 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:22.944 | 0.321 |
| 10 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:23.004 | 0.381 |
| 11 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 20 | 1:23.036 | 0.413 |
| 12 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:23.058 | 0.435 |
| 13 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:23.144 | 0.521 |
| 14 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:23.204 | 0.581 |
| 15 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 19 | 1:23.226 | 0.603 |
| 16 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 17 | 1:23.285 | 0.662 |
| 17 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:23.541 | 0.918 |
| 18 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 22 | 1:23.639 | 1.016 |