The final qualifying session of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season opener at Hockenheim saw Scotland’s Paul Di Resta take pole position for the main race of the weekend with a 1:34.060.
With no Audis in the top ten, Team MTEK’s Augusto Farfus and Team ART’s Gary Paffett completed the top three, who were separated by just 0.225 seconds.
The 4.574-km Baden-Württemberg circuit was still bathed in sunshine, but with wind speeds increasing throughout the 20-minute session, it made for quicker track evolution, even with Nico Müller’s lap from first qualifying not being bettered.
Mercedes-AMG DTM were looking to make an impression, as Christian Vietoris was running in the 1m35s, before Esteban Ocon and Paul Di Resta started vying for the top spot. The Frenchman posted a 1:34.361 after six minutes, before Maxime Martin and di Resta went even quicker.
Several drivers, including Bruno Spengler, Augusto Farfus and Timo Glock, would not venture out until just before the halfway point, as the track was quickly evolving towards the optimum conditions.
António Félix da Costa went fourth fastest on his first flying lap, before Spengler, Farfus, Tom Blomqvist and Tomczyk also made into the top ten by the halfway point.
All drivers apart from Vietoris opted to pit with 6 minutes remaining, giving the Mücke Motorsport driver a clear track, going 16th quickest, 0.722 seconds slower than the 2010 champion.
Paffett picked the right moment his EURONICS-liveried C63 AMG DTM into third before the final flurry of action, initially ahead of Farfus and an impressive Esteban Ocon.
Maxime Martin and Robert Wickens were in the thick of the action, as the pair will start from fourth and fifth on the grid, ahead of Timo Glock and Ocon, who was under investigation for blocking during qualifying. However, the stewards took no further action against the 19-year-old.
Six BMW M4 DTMs made it into the top ten, as Blomqvist, Marco Wittmann and da Costa’s pace was evident, with the top ten repeated by just 0.389 seconds.
Audi Sport were clearly struggling throughout the session, as Edoardo Mortara was the highest place RS5 DTM in ninth with 90 seconds left, before being bumped down the order to 12th.
Lucas Auer placed 16th after the chequered flag, as the Austrian again suffered a major sideways moment, but this time it was at turn one, beaching his car in the gravel.
Timo Scheider would also have an off-track excursion, and will start from 22nd on the grid, ahead of Miguel Molina and Daniel Juncadella, who starts dead last as a result of the three-place grid penalty he received after yesterday’s incident with Timo Glock.
Mattias Ekström, who won the World RX Hockenheim event before qualifying, was 0.765 seconds off the pace, behind Mike Rockenfeller and Adrien Tambay, placing 18th and 19th respectively.
Race two of the DTM season opener at Hockenheim starts at 14:30 local time (13:30 British Summer Time), lasting for 60 minutes plus 1 lap.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 3 | Paul di RESTA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:34.060 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 18 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:34.186 | 0.126 |
| 3 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
EURONICS / BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:34.198 | 0.138 |
| 4 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:34.285 | 0.225 |
| 5 | 6 | Robert WICKENS |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:34.285 | 0.225 |
| 6 | 16 | Timo GLOCK |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:34.344 | 0.284 |
| 7 | 34 | Esteban OCON |  |
PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:34.361 | 0.301 |
| 8 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:34.423 | 0.363 |
| 9 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:34.426 | 0.366 |
| 10 | 13 | António Félix da COSTA |  |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:34.449 | 0.389 |
| 11 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:34.451 | 0.391 |
| 12 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:34.478 | 0.418 |
| 13 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER | |
BMW Team MTEK | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:34.550 | 0.490 |
| 14 | 100 | Martin TOMCZYK | |
BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M4 DTM | 11 | 1:34.592 | 0.532 |
| 15 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:34.599 | 0.539 |
| 16 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 7 | 1:34.630 | 0.570 |
| 17 | 84 | Maximilian GÖTZ | |
PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:34.709 | 0.649 |
| 18 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:34.772 | 0.712 |
| 19 | 27 | Adrien TAMBAY | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:34.779 | 0.719 |
| 20 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:34.824 | 0.764 |
| 21 | 8 | Christian VIETORIS | |
BWT Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 7 | 1:34.826 | 0.766 |
| 22 | 10 | Timo SCHEIDER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:34.882 | 0.822 |
| 23 | 12 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:35.147 | 1.087 |
| 24 | 17 | Miguel MOLINA | |
Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi RS5 DTM | 8 | 1:35.155 | 1.095 |