René Rast ended Friday’s DTM practice day at Zolder with the fastest time of all, the title contender posting a lap time which was over four tenths faster than the next quickest driver, Ferdinand von Habsburg.
Rast, who had been second quickest to Robin Frijns in the first session of the day, went almost six tenths of a second quicker than he had in the earlier session, to once again cemet himself as the favourite of the weekend.
The German had last weekend won both races at the Belgian circuit to catapult himself right back into title contention.
Habsburg was second quickest, having been fifth in FP1, ahead of Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller in third.
Championship leader Nico Müller was fourth, just over half a second off the pace, ahead of an impressive showing by WRT’s Fabio Scherer in fifth.
Harrison Newey made sure all three WRT Audis were in the top third of the field by going sixth quickest, the Brit having been fourth in FP1.
Title contender Robin Frijns, who had set the pace earlier in the day, was seventh, with a lap that was one tenth slower than his best earlier on.
Jonathan Aberdein was the best-placed BMW driver in eighth, with the top ten completed by Audi’s Jamie Green and BMW’s Philipp Eng.
DTM newcomer Benoît Tréluyer was slowest of all but the Frenchman improved his pace from earlier in the day, ending up 1.778 seconds adrift.
Qualifying is scheduled to get underway at 09:35 BST (10:35 CEST) on Saturday morning.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:18.927 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 19 | 1:19.345 | 0.418 |
| 3 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:19.378 | 0.451 |
| 4 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:19.442 | 0.515 |
| 5 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:19.469 | 0.542 |
| 6 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:19.630 | 0.703 |
| 7 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:19.642 | 0.715 |
| 8 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 1:19.736 | 0.809 |
| 9 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 19 | 1:19.776 | 0.849 |
| 10 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 1:19.899 | 0.972 |
| 11 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 17 | 1:19.924 | 0.997 |
| 12 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 1:20.064 | 1.137 |
| 13 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 1:20.089 | 1.162 |
| 14 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 1:20.190 | 1.263 |
| 15 | 8 | Robert KUBICA |  |
BMW Team ART | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:20.200 | 1.273 |
| 16 | 19 | Benoît TRÉLUYER |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:20.705 | 1.778 |