Mercedes’ Daniel Juncadella ended the first Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters free practice session at the Norisring with the fastest time, ahead of stalemate Robert Wickens and Audi’s Mattias Ekström.
Spaniard Juncadella hit the top of the times with just two minutes remaining in the session, first posting a 48.568 before marginally improving his time with a 48.567.
Canadian Wickens was second, having hit the top of the times himself with ten minutes remaining in the session. The Mercedes driver ended up a mere 0.006 seconds behind Juncadella at the end of the session.
Ekström was third fastest, with the Swede having been top of the times throughout the first half of the one-hour session.
Timo Scheider was fourth in his Phoenix Audi, ahead of Team Rosberg Audi drivers Nico Müller and Jamie Green. Müller was one of the few drivers to spin during the session, with the Swiss driver pirouetting four minutes from the end at the Dutzendteich-Kehre.
Pascal Wehrlein was seventh fastest, heading up a trio of Mercedes drivers with Paul di Resta eighth and Christian Vietoris in ninth. For all the marques recent problems, only two of their drivers (Gary Paffett in 12th and Vitaly Petrov in 14th) failed to make the top ten.
Edoardo Mortara completed the top ten in his Abt Audi, ahead of team-mate Adrien Tambay in 11th. Tambay caused a brief red-flag stoppage in the session after half an hour when he made contact with Petrov at the final turn and left a piece of debris in the middle of the track.
BMW drivers struggled in the session, with Marco Wittmann the top driver for the marque down in 15th. BMW drivers occupied the bottom seven positions.
The session was the first free practice session of the DTM’s new two-session format. Second practice takes place at 11:30 CEST (10:30 BST).
Top ten times
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 19 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Petronas AMG Mercedes | DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé | 49 | 48.567 | |
| 2 | 12 | Robert WICKENS |  |
FREE MAN’S WORLD AMG Mercedes | DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé | 37 | 48.573 | 0.006 |
| 3 | 7 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 39 | 48.664 | 0.097 |
| 4 | 2 | Timo SCHEIDER |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 40 | 48.686 | 0.119 |
| 5 | 22 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 45 | 48.704 | 0.137 |
| 6 | 21 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 47 | 48.708 | 0.141 |
| 7 | 25 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
gooix AMG Mercedes | DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé | 39 | 48.719 | 0.152 |
| 8 | 6 | Paul di RESTA | |
AMG Mercedes | DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé | 35 | 48.749 | 0.182 |
| 9 | 5 | Christian VIETORIS | |
Original-Teile AMG Mercedes | DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé | 39 | 48.765 | 0.198 |
| 10 | 15 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 38 | 48.791 | 0.224 |