Defending DTM champion René Rast has scored his second pole position in as many days as the Audi Sport Team Rosberg driver left it late again to take pole at the Nürburgring.
Pipping his best time yesterday by a tenth of a second, Rast jumped from fourth to first in the times as the chequered flag fell.
All manufacturers were represented in the top three as Gary Paffett qualified second in his Mercedes-AMG whilst early session pace-setter Philipp Eng ended up third in his BMW.
Tyre warming became another issue this session as drivers spent as much time as possible to mke sure their tyres were up to temperature.
Audi’s free practice pace-setter Mike Rockenfeller was the only driver to be caught out as he locked up his Audi at the hairpin.
Mercedes’ Lucas Auer was fighting at the sharp end before the mid-session pit stop. However, he dropped to fifth behind BMW’s Timo Glock in fourth at the end of the session.
Pascal Wehrlein qualified his Mercedes in sixth ahead of final practice pace-setter Rockenfeller who wasn’t troubled too much by his off track excursion
Bruno Spengler couldn’t follow up his third place grid start from yesterday as he places his BMW in eighth.
Ninth went to Marco Wittman ahead of Joel Eriksson who rounded out the top ten. Eriksson improving on his performance from yesterday with a jump of three positions.
Former championship leader Paul Di Resta struggled again this weekend as the best he could do was eleventh, making his fightback against rival Paffett ever harder.
The race action continues later today at 12:30 BST (13:30 CEST)
Q1 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:22.140 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:22.146 | 0.006 |
| 3 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:22.159 | 0.019 |
| 4 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:22.203 | 0.063 |
| 5 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 11 | 1:22.331 | 0.191 |
| 6 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:22.331 | 0.191 |
| 7 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:22.468 | 0.328 |
| 8 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:22.502 | 0.362 |
| 9 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:22.505 | 0.365 |
| 10 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:22.540 | 0.400 |
| 11 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:22.566 | 0.426 |
| 12 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:22.568 | 0.428 |
| 13 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:22.586 | 0.446 |
| 14 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 11 | 1:22.624 | 0.484 |
| 15 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:22.711 | 0.571 |
| 16 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:22.887 | 0.747 |
| 17 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:22.921 | 0.781 |
| 18 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:22.925 | 0.785 |