BMW’s Maxime Martin set the pace in first practice for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, posting the top time within the final two minutes to deny Audi’s Miguel Molina.
The Belgian, fresh from his win last time out in Russia, demoted Spaniard Molina to second with a superb lap 0.148 seconds quicker in the closing minutes of the session. Molina had been on top throughout most of the session, which saw little changes in the order after the first few laps.
Mercedes’ Robert Wickens was third fastest, 0.274 seconds off the pace. The Canadian fared much better than his stable-mates, with no other driver representing the three-pointed star inside the top ten.
Audi’s second-placed man in the championship Mattias Ekström was fourth, ahead of Abt team-mate Adrien Tambay in fifth.
António Félix da Costa was sixth, ahead of Audi’s Team Phoenix duo Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Scheider in seventh and eighth respectively.
Completing the top ten were BMW’s points leader Marco Wittmann and Augusto Farfus, with the former being the last driver within half a second of the pace.
Second practice takes place at 14:10 CEST (13:10 BST).
Top ten times
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 24 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 27 | 1:25.985 | |
| 2 | 8 | Miguel MOLINA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:26.133 | 0.148 |
| 3 | 12 | Robert WICKENS |  |
FREE MAN’S WORLD AMG Mercedes | DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé | 22 | 1:26.259 | 0.274 |
| 4 | 7 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 28 | 1:26.343 | 0.358 |
| 5 | 16 | Adrien TAMBAY |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 28 | 1:26.369 | 0.384 |
| 6 | 18 | António Félix da COSTA |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 27 | 1:26.444 | 0.459 |
| 7 | 1 | Mike ROCKENFELLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 32 | 1:26.447 | 0.462 |
| 8 | 2 | Timo SCHEIDER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:26.459 | 0.474 |
| 9 | 23 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 21 | 1:26.476 | 0.491 |
| 10 | 3 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 26 | 1:26.495 | 0.510 |