René Rast secured his second DTM pole of the weekend in the final moments of the session with a lap time of 1 minute 25.384 seconds. The Audi Sport Team Rosberg driver knocking Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline’s Robin Frijns off top spot by seventh hundredths of a second.
The qualifying session was interrupted only three minutes in as guest driver Andrea Dovizioso locked up at T14 on his outlap, and ran through the gravel to the barrier. The MotoGP star, who is driving for Audi Sport Team WRT, was unable to find the reverse gear forcing the stewards to red flag the session.
When the track went green, BMW Team RBM’s Joel Eriksson briefly topped the standings before Audi Sport Team Phoenix driver Loïc Duval, Jamie Green’s Audi Sport Team Rosberg replacement Pietro Fittipaldi and Frijns set successive fastest laps.
Unlike most qualifying sessions so far this season, a number of drivers improved their best times in the second runs.
The most notable being Rast, who improved by over a tenth of a second to snatch pole from Frijns as the time expired.
Rookie Jonathan Aberdein continued his good form at Misano, the Audi Sport Team WRT driver taking third place, 0.200 seconds slower than Rast.
Nico Müller will start on the second row, after setting a time less than two tenths slower than Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline teammate Frijns.
Fittipaldi, who is stepping in for the unwell Green, took fifth place to round out an Audi 1-2-3-4-5, with a lap at 1 minute 25.659 seconds.
Race one winner Marco Wittmann put his BMW Team RMG car will start sixth on the grid, and the best of the BMW’s just 0.380 seconds slower than Rast.
Duval, who scored only his second DTM podium yesterday, will head the fourth row alongside Eriksson who retired from the race.
The two BMW Team RMR cars of Philipp Eng and Timo Glock round out the top ten, still within five tenths of the pole time. The latter setting his only lap time in the final two minutes of the session.
Despite causing the early red flag, Dovizioso was able to return to the pit lane and rejoin the session eventually taking 14th on the grid with a time of 1 minute 26.703 seconds.
Jake Dennis was the fastest of the R-Motorsport run Aston Martin’s, setting a time of 1 minute 26.831 seconds, and will start this afternoons race from 15th on the grid
Race Two gets underway at 13:15 CEST (12:15 BST).
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:25.384 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 6 | 1:25.454 | 0.070 |
| 3 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:25.584 | 0.200 |
| 4 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:25.632 | 0.248 |
| 5 | 21 | Pietro FITTIPALDI |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:25.659 | 0.275 |
| 6 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:25.764 | 0.380 |
| 7 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:25.767 | 0.383 |
| 8 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:25.803 | 0.419 |
| 9 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:25.805 | 0.421 |
| 10 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:25.814 | 0.430 |
| 11 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:25.981 | 0.597 |
| 12 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:26.005 | 0.621 |
| 13 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 6 | 1:26.458 | 1.074 |
| 14 | 34 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:26.703 | 1.319 |
| 15 | 76 | Jake DENNIS |  |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 11 | 1:26.831 | 1.447 |
| 16 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 6 | 1:27.009 | 1.625 |
| 17 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 10 | 1:27.198 | 1.814 |
| 18 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 9 | 1:27.325 | 1.941 |