Defending champion René Rast continued his Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters form by topping the timesheets in opening practice at Hockenheim.
Rast, who has won the previous four races and has an outside shot at the title this weekend, set a 1:33.780 to put him 0.171s ahead of fellow Audi racer Jamie Green.
Next was the Mercedes duo of Daniel Juncadella and Pascal Wehrlein, hoping to go well in the brand’s final weekend of competing in the series.
Rast set the early pace, setting his fastest time in the first half of the session, while championship rivals Paul Di Resta and Gary Paffett struggled in 13th and 15th respectively.
Loic Duval completed the top five ahead of Timo Glock in the fastest of the BMWs.
Glock led a trio of BMW drivers with Joel Eriksson in seventh, Philip Eng in eighth and Augusto Farfus in ninth.
Spielberg podium finisher Nico Müller rounded out the top ten.
The second practice session for the Hockenheim season finale gets underway at 08:00 CEST [07:00 BST] tomorrow [13th October].
Session results
POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
1 | 33 | René RAST | Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:33.780 | 0.000 | |
2 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 16 | 1:33.951 | 0.171 | |
3 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA | Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:34.045 | 0.265 | |
4 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 16 | 1:34.050 | 0.270 | |
5 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL | Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 19 | 1:34.073 | 0.293 | |
6 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 1:34.122 | 0.342 | |
7 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON | BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 1:34.163 | 0.383 | |
8 | 25 | Philipp ENG | BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 1:34.208 | 0.428 | |
9 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS | BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 1:34.283 | 0.503 | |
10 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:34.304 | 0.524 | |
11 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER | BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 1:34.331 | 0.551 | |
12 | 22 | Lucas AUER | SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 18 | 1:34.332 | 0.552 | |
13 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 18 | 1:34.366 | 0.586 | |
14 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 5 | 1:34.478 | 0.698 | |
15 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 20 | 1:34.541 | 0.761 | |
16 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:34.638 | 0.858 | |
17 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 6 | 1:35.141 | 1.361 | |
18 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA | SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 3 | No time | N/A |