Loïc Duval was quickest in the second DTM practice session at the Norisring, heading Mike Rockenfeller in an Audi 1-2, with a time which ended up being a tenth slower than the Rockenfeller’s best of the day.
BMW fared better in second practice, with Bruno Spengler and Philipp Eng ending the half-hour session in third and fourth respectively, around two tenths off the pace, after Audi had earlier locked out the top four places in the afternoon’s longer session.
Audi duo Nico Müller and René Rast were next up in fifth and sixth respectively, followed by a trio of BMW drivers, with Timo Glock heading Joel Eriksson and Marco Wittmann.
Audi’s Robin Frijns completed the top ten, just over half a second off the pace.
The private WRT-run Audis of Pietro Fittipaldi and Jonathan Aberdein were closer to the pace than they had been in first practice, with both drivers within a second of the pace for the first time in the day.
The best Aston Martin driver was Daniel Juncadella in 14th, as the R-Motorsport quartet struggled, with Jake Dennis and Ferdinand von Habsburg failing to post times due to technical issues.
Qualifying for race one gets underway at 10:25 CEST (09:25 BST) on Saturday.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 33 | 46.635 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 35 | 46.768 | 0.133 |
| 3 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 25 | 46.822 | 0.187 |
| 4 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 25 | 46.844 | 0.209 |
| 5 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 27 | 46.890 | 0.255 |
| 6 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 38 | 46.930 | 0.295 |
| 7 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 27 | 46.964 | 0.329 |
| 8 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 26 | 47.083 | 0.448 |
| 9 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 27 | 47.097 | 0.462 |
| 10 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 28 | 47.154 | 0.519 |
| 11 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 26 | 47.196 | 0.561 |
| 12 | 21 | Pietro FITTIPALDI |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 33 | 47.229 | 0.594 |
| 13 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 30 | 47.236 | 0.601 |
| 14 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 27 | 47.276 | 0.641 |
| 15 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 47.480 | 0.845 |
| 16 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 30 | 47.511 | 0.876 |
| 17 | 76 | Jake DENNIS | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 0 | No time | N/A |
| 18 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 0 | No time | N/A |