BMW Team RMG’s Marco Wittmann scored the first pole of his 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters campaign, pipping René Rast in the closing stages, who in turn outqualified title rival Gary Paffett.
Polesitter Wittmann made a remarkable recovery after a torrid time yesterday, in which the double champion crashed in second practice, forcing him to miss qualifying and going on to retire from race one.
His late effort of 1:33.683 put him just half a tenth clear of Rast, who was a further tenth clear of championship leader Paffett.
This means Paffett extended his points lead over erstwhile leader Paul Di Resta to seven points, with Rast 14 points adrift heading into the deciding race this afternoon.
Bruno Spengler headed fellow BMW racer Augusto Farfus in fourth and fifth respectively, after the latter was forced to retire from the opening race after the door on his BMW M4 DTM came loose and sheared off.
Next was Edoardo Mortara, just over two tenths shy of Wittmann’s benchmark, and ahead of BMW duo Joel Eriksson and Philip Eng.
Double Spielberg podium finisher Nico Müller headed the fifth row with Timo Glock for company and completing the top ten.
Long-time standings leader Paul Di Resta again struggled for one-lap pace in his Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM, and will need to make rapid progress if he is to outscore Paffett in the race.
The title decider at Hockenheim is scheduled to get underway at 13:30 CEST [12:30 BST].
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:32.683 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:32.737 | 0.054 |
| 3 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:32.846 | 0.163 |
| 4 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:32.901 | 0.218 |
| 5 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:32.911 | 0.228 |
| 6 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:32.916 | 0.233 |
| 7 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:32.947 | 0.264 |
| 8 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:32.960 | 0.277 |
| 9 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:32.972 | 0.289 |
| 10 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:33.112 | 0.429 |
| 11 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:33.114 | 0.431 |
| 12 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:33.126 | 0.443 |
| 13 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:33.287 | 0.604 |
| 14 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:33.324 | 0.641 |
| 15 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:33.427 | 0.744 |
| 16 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:33.468 | 0.785 |
| 17 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:33.477 | 0.794 |
| 18 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:34.695 | 2.012 |