Timo Glock claimed BMW’s first pole position of the season in qualifying for the second DTM race of the weekend at Zolder, with fellow M4 driver Sheldon van der Linde joining him on the front row of the grid.
The German left it until the final five minutes of the session to hit the top of the times at a damp Zolder circuit, ousting then-pace-setter René Rast with a time of 1 minute 28.960 seconds.
The RMG BMW driver had five minutes prior improved to second, as he gained pace and confidence around the Belgian circuit.
“I’m very happy – I have to say I’m really proud of my engineering guys,” said Glock, who had also started Saturday’s race from the front row of the grid.
“Everyone was talking about how we should use two sets of tyres, and we said no. We had the lap time in our hands yesterday and we just got unlucky with the yellow flag.
“It should have worked out like we did yesterday, so we just did the plan, copy and paste, but with the timings slightly better and it paid off.
“We did the right changes and the car felt good again. In those conditions, I’m very happy to be on the top again because it relates a bit to the driver in these conditions.”
Van der Linde left it until the very last seconds of the session to claim second, the South African driver also claiming his best qualifying result of the season.
In an unusual turn of fortunes for 2020, Audi’s best driver could only manage third, with race one winner Rast taking third, just under two tenths off the pace. The reigning champion had been the pace-setter for the first half of the session, but struggled to improve in the final minutes.
WRT’s Ferdinand von Habsburg was fourth, just over three tenths off pole, ahead of Jamie Green in fifth, equalling the Brit’s best qualifying effort of the year.
Mike Rockenfeller was sixth, ahead of championship leader Nico Müller in seventh, who improved one place to pip title rival Robin Frijns in the closing seconds.
BMW’s Jonathan Aberdein and Marco Wittmann completed the top ten, the latter just over eight tenths off the pace.
Race two is scheduled to get underway at 13:30 CEST (12:30 BST).
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 16 | Timo GLOCK |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:28.960 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 14 | 1:28.983 | 0.023 |
| 3 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 14 | 1:29.130 | 0.170 |
| 4 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:29.269 | 0.309 |
| 5 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:29.336 | 0.376 |
| 6 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:29.473 | 0.513 |
| 7 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:29.494 | 0.534 |
| 8 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:29.564 | 0.604 |
| 9 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:29.761 | 0.801 |
| 10 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:29.765 | 0.805 |
| 11 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:29.787 | 0.827 |
| 12 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:29.902 | 0.942 |
| 13 | 8 | Robert KUBICA |  |
BMW Team ART | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:30.037 | 1.077 |
| 14 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:30.095 | 1.135 |
| 15 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:30.228 | 1.268 |
| 16 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:30.418 | 1.458 |