Switzerland’s Nico Müller was fastest in a fog-delayed final free practice session of the 2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season, leading a strong showing from Audi Sport, who had six RS5 DTMs in the top ten.
The Team Abt Sportsline driver was 0.132 seconds ahead of Edoardo Mortara, who fared much better than chief rival Marco Wittmann, as the current points leader was only 17th fastest at the end of the 30-minute session.
The delay was as a result of the medical helicopter being unable to fly, due to the low-lying fog forcing a 25-minute delay to proceedings for the entire timetable.
2013 champion Mike Rockenfeller, who switched to Hans-Jürgen Abt’s outfit for this weekend to assist in the hunt for the team title, was third, in front of a very impressive full race weekend début so far from René Rast.
Race one pole sitter António Félix da Costa was one of two BMWs in the top ten, completing the top five, whilst Team RBM’s Tom Blomqvist was eighth, behind Team Rosberg’s Jamie Green and the best of the Mercedes drivers, Paul Di Resta.
Timo Scheider, who announced his retirement from the series yesterday evening, was 0.439 seconds off the pace set by Müller down in 9th, ahead of fellow former champion, Team ART’s Gary Paffett.
Mercedes did have a strong showing early on in the session with seven of their cars, apart from Christian Vietoris, in the top ten.
Both Felix Rosenqvist and Lucas Auer were at the top of the timesheets at one point, with the Swede going fastest with just 19 minutes remaining, until Da Costa went even faster with four and a half minutes left.
Rosenqvist ended up 0.003 seconds slower than Team ART teammate Paffett, who completed the top ten.
Martin Tomczyk was 12th fastest, ahead of Adrien Tambay, Auer, Maxime Martin and Daniel Juncadella, as the 2011 champion concludes his DTM career this afternoon.
Bruno Spengler posted the 18th fastest time, with initial front-runner Augusto Farfus 0.002 seconds slower.
Yesterday’s race winner Miguel Molina was way down the order in 20th, as the entire field was separated by 1.235 seconds despite the cold conditions.
Timo Glock was slowest of all, behind the Mercedes trio of Robert Wickens, Christian Vietoris and Maximilian Götz.
Qualifying for the title decider gets underway at 1255 CEST (BST + 1), lasting for 20 minutes.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:32.850 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:32.982 | 0.132 |
| 3 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 14 | 1:33.129 | 0.279 |
| 4 | 72 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 14 | 1:33.138 | 0.288 |
| 5 | 13 | António Félix da COSTA |  |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 14 | 1:33.202 | 0.352 |
| 6 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 15 | 1:33.204 | 0.354 |
| 7 | 3 | Paul di RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 14 | 1:33.225 | 0.375 |
| 8 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:33.268 | 0.418 |
| 9 | 10 | Timo SCHEIDER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 14 | 1:33.289 | 0.439 |
| 10 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 13 | 1:33.412 | 0.562 |
| 11 | 88 | Felix ROSENQVIST |  |
EURONICS/FREE MEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 14 | 1:33.415 | 0.565 |
| 12 | 100 | Martin TOMCZYK | |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 14 | 1:33.416 | 0.566 |
| 13 | 27 | Adrien TAMBAY |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 14 | 1:33.424 | 0.574 |
| 14 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 15 | 1:33.462 | 0.612 |
| 15 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:33.488 | 0.638 |
| 16 | 12 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 12 | 1:33.592 | 0.742 |
| 17 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 12 | 1:33.605 | 0.755 |
| 18 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 14 | 1:33.675 | 0.825 |
| 19 | 18 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 14 | 1:33.677 | 0.827 |
| 20 | 17 | Miguel MOLINA | |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:33.736 | 0.886 |
| 21 | 6 | Robert WICKENS | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS Invest Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 14 | 1:33.826 | 0.976 |
| 22 | 8 | Christian VIETORIS | |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 15 | 1:33.855 | 1.005 |
| 23 | 84 | Maximilian GÖTZ | |
Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 15 | 1:33.941 | 1.091 |
| 24 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:34.085 | 1.235 |