With further inbound heavy rain falling and thunder strikes surrounding the Misano World Circuit, qualifying for the first ever night race in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters history saw Paul Di Resta take his second pole position of the season.
The 2010 champion posted his best effort of a 1:46.826 on his last lap during the 20-minute session, a clear 0.469 seconds ahead of Stuttgart stablemate Edoardo Mortara.
Mercedes have locked out the front row for the third successive race, along with a current unbroken pole position streak of nine thus far, since the Scot took pole for race three of the year at the Hungaroring.
Defending champion René Rast took third, and was a further 0.106 seconds behind Mortara, with points leader Gary Paffett completing the top four.
Timo Glock was the best of the BMWs, with the Team RMG driver taking fifth place, ahead of Lucas Auer by a mere 0.028 seconds.
Pascal Wehrlein was eighth quickest in the session, with the 2015 champion’s best effort of a 1:47.645 putting him eighth, whilst Augusto Farfus and Daniel Juncadella completed the top ten, who were covered by just under a second, considering the difficult track conditions.
Nico Müller and Robin Frijns will start on row six, ahead of 2012 champion Bruno Spengler and Ingolstadt stable mate Loïc Duval, as many drivers were finding track limits an issue at the 4.226-km circuit.
Both Marco Wittmann and Joel Eriksson could also not match the pace of the frotn runners, as the track evolved heavily in the last five minutes, with the pair starting behind Duval
Jamie Green’s difficult season continues, as the Briton starts from 17th, ahead of BMW rookie Philipp Eng, who narrowly avoided beaching his M4 DTM in the gravel at around the two and a half minute mark off turn five.
Guest starter Alex Zanardi will contest his first DTM race from last place, having set a lap time 3.745 seconds off the fast pace set by pole sitter Di Resta.
The first ever DTM night race will get underway at Misano at 2230 CEST (BST + 1 hour), lasting for 55 minutes plus one additional lap.
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 11 | 1:46.826 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:47.295 | 0.469 |
| 3 | 33 | René RAST |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:47.401 | 0.575 |
| 4 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:47.434 | 0.608 |
| 5 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:47.569 | 0.743 |
| 6 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 11 | 1:47.597 | 0.771 |
| 7 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:47.603 | 0.777 |
| 8 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:47.645 | 0.819 |
| 9 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:47.654 | 0.828 |
| 10 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:47.769 | 0.943 |
| 11 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:47.850 | 1.024 |
| 12 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:48.115 | 1.289 |
| 13 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:48.303 | 1.477 |
| 14 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:48.505 | 1.679 |
| 15 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:48.550 | 1.724 |
| 16 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:48.674 | 1.848 |
| 17 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:49.383 | 2.557 |
| 18 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:49.631 | 2.805 |
| 19 | 12 | Alessandro ZANARDI | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:50.571 | 3.745 |