Audi’s Jamie Green became the first driver in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) to secure a second pole position this year, as the Briton posted his best effort of a 1:30.696 with just three minutes remaining.
The Team Rosberg driver leads a British front row, as Team ART’s Gary Paffett was just 0.079 seconds behind his countryman, with final free practice pace setter Christian Vietoris completing a very close top three.
Drama struck the 20-minute session just four minutes in, as HWA’s Daniel Juncadella brought out the red flag, having gone straight off at the turn 8/9 complex, ending his efforts early.
Edoardo Mortara was the next best Audi driver, as the Italian lines up alongside Vietoris on the second row, with both drivers having set the exact same time at the halfway point. Robert Wickens completed the top five, as the Canadian was 0.241 seconds off the pace set by Green.
Team RMG’s Timo Glock and Marco Wittmann were the best of the BMWs in sixth and seventh, with Esteban Ocon securing his second successive top ten start in eighth.
Mattias Ekström and Nico Müller completed the top ten with their Audi RS5 DTMs, with both Ingolstadt and Stuttgart each having four cars in a tightly-contested qualifying session.
DTM débutant René Rast impressed, as the German was just 1.383 seconds slower than pole setter Green in 22nd place, ahead of Maximilian Götz.
Tom Blomqvist missed out on the top ten by just 0.051 seconds, ahead of Spain’s Miguel Molina and Scotland’s Paul Di Resta.
14th to 17th on the grid for the main race this afternoon (Sunday 17th July) were taken up by Bruno Spengler and António Félix da Costa, who were equal on lap time, along with Martin Tomczyk and Augusto Farfus.
Mike Rockenfeller may have been 0.753 seconds off the pace, but the 2013 champion starts from 18th on the grid, ahead of Lucas Auer, with Timo Scheider and Maxime Martin marginally faster than Rast.
The tenth race of the 2016 season starts at 13:43 CEST, lasting for 60 minutes plus one lap, including a mandatory pitstop.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:30.696 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:30.775 | 0.079 |
| 3 | 8 | Christian VIETORIS |  |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:30.792 | 0.096 |
| 4 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:30.859 | 0.163 |
| 5 | 6 | Robert WICKENS |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:30.937 | 0.241 |
| 6 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:30.957 | 0.261 |
| 7 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:31.046 | 0.350 |
| 8 | 34 | Esteban OCON |  |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:31.053 | 0.357 |
| 9 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:31.163 | 0.467 |
| 10 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:31.193 | 0.497 |
| 11 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:31.244 | 0.548 |
| 12 | 17 | Miguel MOLINA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:31.247 | 0.551 |
| 13 | 3 | Paul di RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:31.322 | 0.626 |
| 14 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER | |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:31.333 | 0.637 |
| 15 | 13 | António Félix da COSTA |  |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:31.333 | 0.637 |
| 16 | 100 | Martin TOMCZYK | |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:31.346 | 0.650 |
| 17 | 18 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:31.352 | 0.656 |
| 18 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:31.449 | 0.753 |
| 19 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:31.566 | 0.870 |
| 20 | 10 | Timo SCHEIDER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:31.623 | 0.927 |
| 21 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:32.018 | 1.322 |
| 22 | 72 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:32.079 | 1.383 |
| 23 | 84 | Maximilian GÖTZ | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 7 | 1:33.148 | 2.452 |
| 24 | 12 | Daniel JUNCADELLA | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 1 | No time | N/A |