In a last-minute effort, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT’s Lucas Auer has secured pole position for the first of two DTM races at the Nürburgring this weekend.
As the final driver to cross the line when the session ended, the Austrian put in a 1:25.968 that beat the previous fastest time of BMW’s Marco Wittmann by 0.099 seconds.
Wittmann, Timo Glock and company were a strong force in this morning’s qualifying, with all M4 DTMs occupying the top six of the order. But as the weather got better and slick tyres became a viable option for teams and drivers, Mercedes caught on.
With times tumbling dramatically during the final few minutes, Lucas Auer crossed the line just in time, when the drying track was at its optimum.
The youngster will now start from the front row of the grid for the sixth time in his young DTM career, with reigning champion Marco Wittmann behind in second.
Canada’s Robert Wickens will start from third, with Brazil’s Augusto Farfus alongside him on the second row.
Paul di Resta, who previously topped the timing sheets in second practice earlier this morning, had to settle for fifth, ahead of Tom Blomqvist.
Current championship runner-up René Rast was the only Audi Sport driver to reach the top ten, having set the seventh fastest time.
Timo Glock, albeit starting from eighth, had shown great efforts in today’s qualifying, working his way up the timing sheets multiple times throughout the 20-minute session.
Mercedes-Benz’ Maro Engel and BMW’s Maxime Martin will start today’s 55-minute race in ninth and tenth spot respectively.
Race one of the weekend is set to get underway at 14:48 local time (13:48 BST).
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 14 | 1:25.968 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:26.067 | 0.099 |
| 3 | 6 | Robert WICKENS |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:26.378 | 0.410 |
| 4 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:26.484 | 0.516 |
| 5 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:26.912 | 0.944 |
| 6 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:27.044 | 1.076 |
| 7 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:27.062 | 1.094 |
| 8 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:27.191 | 1.223 |
| 9 | 63 | Maro ENGEL |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:27.270 | 1.302 |
| 10 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:27.446 | 1.478 |
| 11 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM | |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:27.682 | 1.714 |
| 12 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:27.760 | 1.792 |
| 13 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:27.842 | 1.874 |
| 14 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:28.112 | 2.144 |
| 15 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:28.206 | 2.238 |
| 16 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:28.338 | 2.370 |
| 17 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:28.625 | 2.657 |
| 18 | 77 | Loïc DUVAL | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 14 | 1:29.274 | 3.306 |