Second free practice for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters at the Norisring saw Mercedes’ Edoardo Mortara lead a closely-packed field, with Paul di Resta and Lucas Auer completing the top three for Mercedes.
The 2.3-km circuit also saw all 18 drivers seperated by just 0.664 seconds ahead of the first qualifying session of the weekend, points leader Timo Glock being the best of the BMW drivers in fourth place.
Two-time champion Marco Wittmann was fifth, with the BMW pair of Philipp Eng and Brazil’s Augusto Farfus faster than Nico Muller, who was the best of the Audi Sport contingent in eighth place.
Defending champion Rene Rast was 0.030 seconds slower than his Swiss stablemate, whilst race winner from last year, Bruno Spengler, completed the top ten.
Title protagonist Gary Paffett was 11th, a further 0.012 seconds adrift, ahead of countryman Jamie Green, Spain’s Daniel Juncadella and 2015 champion Pascal Wehrlein.
Loic Duval completed the top fifteen, in front of Joel Eriksson, Robin Frijns and Mike Rockenfeller.
Qualifying for the first race of the weekend starts at 1020 local time (BST + 1 hour), lasting for 20 minutes.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 26 | 47.908 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 28 | 47.992 | 0.084 |
| 3 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 28 | 48.021 | 0.113 |
| 4 | 16 | Timo GLOCK |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 25 | 48.049 | 0.141 |
| 5 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 24 | 48.061 | 0.153 |
| 6 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 26 | 48.082 | 0.174 |
| 7 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 25 | 48.098 | 0.190 |
| 8 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 48.139 | 0.231 |
| 9 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 48.169 | 0.261 |
| 10 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 26 | 48.177 | 0.269 |
| 11 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 29 | 48.189 | 0.281 |
| 12 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 28 | 48.241 | 0.333 |
| 13 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 26 | 48.303 | 0.395 |
| 14 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 33 | 48.323 | 0.415 |
| 15 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 29 | 48.371 | 0.463 |
| 16 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 25 | 48.431 | 0.523 |
| 17 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 24 | 48.438 | 0.530 |
| 18 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 48.572 | 0.664 |