BMW’s Augusto Farfus topped the times in first practice for the DTM at Zandvoort, putting in a late lap to edge out Mercedes’ Lucas Auer and fellow BMW racer Marco Wittmann.
Brazilian racer Farfus, who has endured a torrid season to-date and is second from bottom in the points, saved his best to last to lap in 1 minute 29.506 seconds on the final tour of the session, almost a second faster than the lap record at the beachside circuit.
The Dutch circuit was the scene of Farfus’ last win in the DTM back in 2013, and is one of the BMW drivers best circuits as it was also the venue of a second-place finish in 2015.
Auer ended up just over two tenths behind in second, having been the pace-setter for much of the session, ahead of two-time champion Wittmann in third.
Championship leader Mattias Ekström was the leading Audi driver in fourth, just under half a second adrift, ahead of the top Brit of Mercedes’ Gary Paffett in fifth.
Only the top nine drivers were within a second of each other at the recently-resurfaced circuit, with tenth-placed Audi driver Loïc Duval just over a second off the pace in tenth.
BMW’s Bruno Spengler was the slowest of the 18 drivers, 1.687 seconds off stable-mate Farfus’ pace.
Second practice takes place at 09:45 CEST (08:45 BST) on Saturday morning.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 1:29.506 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 16 | 1:29.749 | 0.243 |
| 3 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 17 | 1:29.875 | 0.369 |
| 4 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:29.934 | 0.428 |
| 5 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 16 | 1:30.071 | 0.565 |
| 6 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 18 | 1:30.094 | 0.588 |
| 7 | 6 | Robert WICKENS |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 15 | 1:30.214 | 0.708 |
| 8 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 16 | 1:30.361 | 0.855 |
| 9 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:30.363 | 0.857 |
| 10 | 77 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:30.525 | 1.019 |
| 11 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 20 | 1:30.661 | 1.155 |
| 12 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:30.720 | 1.214 |
| 13 | 63 | Maro ENGEL | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:30.803 | 1.297 |
| 14 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 1:31.002 | 1.496 |
| 15 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 21 | 1:31.022 | 1.516 |
| 16 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 18 | 1:31.042 | 1.536 |
| 17 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 14 | 1:31.157 | 1.651 |
| 18 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 18 | 1:31.193 | 1.687 |