Audi’s Jamie Green was the fastest driver in the first DTM practice session on the Nürburgring Sprint circuit, as he edged out BMW’s Sheldon van der Linde in a session which saw the top 14 drivers within a second of the pace.
It is the first time this season that Team Rosberg’s Green has topped a practice session, and the Brit did so by a margin of just over two tenths of a second from South Africa’s van der Linde.
Having scored a podium in the season opening event at Spa, Green has not been in the top three in a race since, and the experienced DTM racer is seeking to emulate the victory he scored in last year’s second race on the shorter circuit.
Van der Linde was the top BMW driver in a more encouraging session for the Munich marque, as he headed up a trio of M4 drivers.
Two-time champion Marco Wittmann was third quickest, just ahead of Philipp Eng in fourth, who was just under half a second off the pace.
All of the top times came in the first 15 minutes of the 45-minute session, with no improvements at all in the final half hour as drivers concentrated on longer runs.
Championship challenger Robin Frijns was fifth fastest in his Audi, ahead of points leader and team-mate Nico Müller in sixth.
René Rast was just behind in seventh, although the German completed fewer laps than any other driver as he spent time in the pitlane with an issue.
Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller was eighth, just under eight tenths off the pace, whilst the top ten was completed by BMW’s Jonathan Aberdein and WRT Audi’s Harrison Newey.
Second practice is scheduled to get underway at 16:30 CEST (15:30 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:20.052 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 28 | 1:20.269 | 0.217 |
| 3 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 26 | 1:20.293 | 0.241 |
| 4 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 28 | 1:20.548 | 0.496 |
| 5 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 26 | 1:20.570 | 0.518 |
| 6 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:20.658 | 0.606 |
| 7 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:20.671 | 0.619 |
| 8 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:20.847 | 0.795 |
| 9 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 28 | 1:20.847 | 0.795 |
| 10 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 29 | 1:20.927 | 0.875 |
| 11 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:20.941 | 0.889 |
| 12 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 27 | 1:20.941 | 0.889 |
| 13 | 8 | Robert KUBICA |  |
BMW Team ART | Audi RS5 DTM | 28 | 1:20.951 | 0.899 |
| 14 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 29 | 1:21.011 | 0.959 |
| 15 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 29 | 1:21.065 | 1.013 |
| 16 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 27 | 1:21.255 | 1.203 |