René Rast edged closer to the 2020 DTM title after taking pole position for race two at the Hockenheimring, as title rival Nico Müller was just fourth and failed to pick up any points.
Rast took his second pole of the weekend on Sunday morning, posting a time of 1 minute 28.337 seconds to easily beat fellow Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller to the top spot by four tenths of a second.
Rast will be buoyed by having Team Rosberg team-mate Jamie Green in third, as Müller could only manage fourth, a mere 0.002 seconds slower than Green.
It means Rast’s championship advantage over his Swiss rival has been extended to 16 points as he took an additional three points for pole, with only 25 points available for a win in the race.
Müller was surprisingly unable to improve on his second run in the session, giving Rast the upper hand in the title fight.
Jonathan Aberdein was once again BMW’s top driver in fifth, 0.44 seconds off the pace, ahead of the Audi of Loïc Duval in sixth.
Ferdinand von Habsburg was the leading WRT Audi in seventh, ahead of former title contender Robin Frijns in eighth.
The top ten was completed by BMW’s Timo Glock and WRT’s Fabio Scherer.
BMW’s double champion Marco Wittmann could only muster 16th, last on the grid, with an effort which was more than a second off the pace in qualifying for BMW’s last Class One DTM race.
Race two gets underway at 12:30 GMT (13:30 CET).
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:28.337 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:28.739 | 0.402 |
| 3 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:28.755 | 0.418 |
| 4 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:28.757 | 0.420 |
| 5 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:28.781 | 0.444 |
| 6 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:28.815 | 0.478 |
| 7 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:28.835 | 0.498 |
| 8 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:28.961 | 0.624 |
| 9 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:28.962 | 0.625 |
| 10 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:28.972 | 0.635 |
| 11 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:29.064 | 0.727 |
| 12 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:29.084 | 0.747 |
| 13 | 8 | Robert KUBICA |  |
BMW Team ART | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:29.180 | 0.843 |
| 14 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:29.350 | 1.013 |
| 15 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:29.607 | 1.270 |
| 16 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:29.636 | 1.299 |