Audi’s Robin Frijns proved that he remains the driver to beat for sheer one-lap pace, as the Dutchman claimed his third DTM pole out of the opening four races, less than a tenth ahead of Nico Müller.
Frijns put in the best lap time of 1 minute 15.787 seconds in the final 20 seconds of the session as he denited team-mate and championship leader Müller the top time – Müller himself had just gone to the top of the times just 20 seconds previously.
Reigning champion René Rast was also briefly at the top in the closing minutes, but the German ultimately had to settle for third as he ended up 0.124 seconds adrift.
WRT’s Ferdinand von Habsburg enjoyed by far his best qualifying result to-date as the Austrian ended up in fourth, ahead of Audi Sport Team Phoenix duo Loïc Duval and Mike Rockenfeller in fifth and sixth respectively.
After showing more encouraging pace on Saturday, BMW will be disappointed to not have broken into the top six, with seventh-placed Marco Wittmann the best of the Munich marque’s drivers, over half a second off the pace.
WRT’s Harrison Newey was eighth – the Brit’s best result – ahead of Jamie Green in ninth, ensuring that only one Audi driver wasn’t in the top ten.
BMW’s Sheldon van der Linde, the manufacturer’s best performer on Saturday, completed the top ten, nearly seven tenths off the pace.
ART GP’s Robert Kubica was the only driver more than a second off the pace, as the Pole put his BMW in last, 1.690 seconds slower than Frijns and half a second slower than the next best driver, fellow BMW driver Lucas Auer.
Race one is scheduled to get underway at 12:33 BST (13:33 CEST).
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:15.787 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:15.852 | 0.065 |
| 3 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:15.911 | 0.124 |
| 4 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:16.124 | 0.337 |
| 5 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:16.236 | 0.449 |
| 6 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:16.278 | 0.491 |
| 7 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:16.316 | 0.529 |
| 8 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:16.361 | 0.574 |
| 9 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:16.380 | 0.593 |
| 10 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:16.477 | 0.690 |
| 11 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:16.532 | 0.745 |
| 12 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:16.597 | 0.810 |
| 13 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:16.634 | 0.847 |
| 14 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:16.717 | 0.930 |
| 15 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:16.720 | 0.933 |
| 16 | 8 | Robert KUBICA |  |
BMW Team ART | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:17.187 | 1.400 |