BMW Team RMG driver Marco Wittmann claimed pole position for the first DTM race at Zolder in 17 years. The championship leaders time of 1 minute 21.307 seconds narrowly beat Audi Sport Team Rosberg’s René Rast by four-hundredths of a second.
With overcast skies, the talk of the session was tyre warming as track temperatures remained low. Drivers would need to run two warm up laps to ensure the Hankook tyres provided enough grip on the hot lap.
The first competitive times came in after five minutes of running. Audi Sport Team Rosberg driver Jamie Green briefly went fastest, before his teammate Rast lit up the timing screens to go quickest.
The 2017 DTM champions time of 1 minute 21.573 seconds would not stay top for long, as with 12 minutes to go Wittmann set the lap that would inevitably give him pole position.
Despite the track condition improving as more rubber was laid down, the standings remained relatively unchanged as drivers completed their second runs in the final few minutes.
Wittmann will head Rast on the front row, followed by BMW Team RMG teammate Bruno Spengler and BMW Team RBM rookie Sheldon van der Linde.
The front four cars separated by less than half a second.
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline driver, and local hero Robin Frijns secured fifth place with a lap time of 1 minute 21.911 seconds, less than three-hundredths of a second faster than BMW Team RMR’s Timo Glock.
Fellow BMW Team RMR driver Philipp Eng heads the fourth row, ahead of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline’s Nico Müller, who was one of the few drivers that improved on their first timed lap, setting a time of 1 minute 22.079 seconds.
BMW Team RBM driver Joel Eriksson set a time only three-thousandths slower than Müller. Audi Sport Team Rosberg driver Jamie Green rounded out the top ten, 0.836 seconds off the pole time.
Jake Dennis was again the fastest of the R-Motorsport run Aston Martin Vantage DTM’s, the British driver will line up 13th on the grid after setting a time 1.212 seconds slower than Wittmann.
Race one at Zolder is 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 | 11 | 1:21.307 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:21.349 | 0.042 |
| 3 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:21.614 | 0.307 |
| 4 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:21.744 | 0.437 |
| 5 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:21.911 | 0.604 |
| 6 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:21.940 | 0.633 |
| 7 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:21.995 | 0.688 |
| 8 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:22.079 | 0.772 |
| 9 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:22.082 | 0.775 |
| 10 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:22.143 | 0.836 |
| 11 | 21 | Pietro FITTIPALDI |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:22.154 | 0.847 |
| 12 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:22.188 | 0.881 |
| 13 | 76 | Jake DENNIS | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 10 | 1:22.215 | 0.908 |
| 14 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:22.519 | 1.212 |
| 15 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 10 | 1:22.675 | 1.368 |
| 16 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:22.684 | 1.377 |
| 17 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 9 | 1:22.694 | 1.387 |
| 18 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 10 | 1:23.240 | 1.933 |