Audi Sport Team Rosberg’s René Rast claimed pole for the second race at the TT Circuit Assen after setting a 1 minute 24.849 second lap, the fastest time of the weekend.
The championship leader was over a tenth faster than rookie Audi Sport Team WRT driver Jonathan Aberdein, who scores his third top three qualifying result of the season.
Much like Saturday qualifying, drivers chose to run two or three warm up laps to ensure that their tyres were at an optimum temperature.
With some cars lapping slowly, traffic would become an issue. On his first hotlap, Rast was clearly impeded by BWM Team RBM’s Sheldon van der Linde who was tyre warming. The South African rookie may well receive a penalty before this afternoons race.
However, unlike the majority of qualifying sessions this season drivers improved in their second runs, and with less than a minute to go the final times came in.
Rast improved, extending his lead at the top, quickly followed by Aberdein who climbed up to second and joined Rast as the only other driver to set a time of 1 minute 24 seconds.
Audi Sport Team Phoenix driver Mike Rockenfeller improved to set the third fastest time of 1 minute 25.017 seconds, giving the 2013 series champion his first points from qualifying since the opening round at Hockenheim.
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline’s Nico Müller also went faster on his second run, claiming fourth on the grid and only one thousandth of a second slower than Rockenfeller.
Home hero Robin Frijns looked set the early pace, but the second Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline driver would eventually take fifth position with his final lap, some 0.253 seconds off pole.
Van der Linde was another driver to improve in the final seconds, setting a time of 1 minute 25.147 seconds, but with the stewards investigation pending he may drop down the order.
Audi Sport Team Phonix driver Loïc Duval claimed seventh on the grid, and will be joined on the fourth row of the grid by BMW Team RMR’s Philipp Eng. Both drivers over half a second off Rast’s pole time.
BMW Team RMG’s Timo Glock will start in ninth after setting a lap good enough to score his second top ten start this weekend.
Audi Sport Team WRT rookie Pietro Fittipaldi rounds out the top ten, his time of 1 minute 25.485 seconds was half a second slower than his front row starting teammate.
Daniel Juncadella was once again the fastest of the R-Motorsport run Aston Martins, setting a time of 1 minute 26.087 seconds and improving on his Saturday qualifying time by sixth tenths.
BMW Team RMG’s Marco Wittmann was unable to continue his dominance at the Dutch circuit after an mechanical issue left him stranded in pitlane. Despite the effort of his team he was unable to get to the line with time on the clock, meaning he will start race two from the back of the grid.
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:24.849 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:24.981 | 0.132 |
| 3 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:25.017 | 0.168 |
| 4 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:25.018 | 0.169 |
| 5 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 4 | 1:25.102 | 0.253 |
| 6 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:25.147 | 0.298 |
| 7 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 6 | 1:25.388 | 0.539 |
| 8 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:25.410 | 0.561 |
| 9 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:25.468 | 0.619 |
| 10 | 21 | Pietro FITTIPALDI |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:25.485 | 0.636 |
| 11 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:25.517 | 0.668 |
| 12 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:25.750 | 0.901 |
| 13 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:25.854 | 1.005 |
| 14 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 8 | 1:26.087 | 1.238 |
| 15 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 8 | 1:26.370 | 1.521 |
| 16 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 8 | 1:26.566 | 1.717 |
| 17 | 76 | Jake DENNIS | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 8 | 1:27.379 | 2.530 |
| 18 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 4 | 1:55.532 | 30.683 |