Defending champion Marco Wittmann was fastest in qualifying for the first DTM race at Moscow Raceway today, but as a result of a five-place grid penalty following a third infraction at the Norisring three weeks ago, Team Rosberg’s René Rast will start from pole position for the third time this season.
The Team RMG driver posted his fastest time of a 1:27.035 around the halfway point of the 20-minute session, with Rast a fraction behind the two-time champion.
Rast’s best effort of a 1:27.155 around the 3.931-km circuit came within the final five minutes, as the Team Rosberg driver ended up just 0.120 seconds off Wittmann.
2013 champion Mike Rockenfeller was unflustered in his first qualifying session since the shunt at Norisring three weeks ago, and will line up alongside Rast on the front row, having initially qualified third.
Augusto Farfus and Timo Glock locked out the top five in their BMWs, ahead of Mattias Ekstrom in sixth, who will be ahead and alongside Wittmann for today’s race.
Rast’s Team Rosberg team mate Jamie Green starts from seventh place, leading the British contingent ahead of BMW’s Tom Blomqvist and the Mercedes driver in the top ten, Gary Paffett, who was 0.503 seconds off the pace set by Wittmann.
Loic Duval made it into the top ten for the second time in qualifying this year, as the Frenchman was just 0.071 seconds ahead of Bruno Spengler at the end of the session to take tenth place. However, the Team Phoenix driver will start from 15th on the grid, after receiving the same penalty as Wittmann for having been given three warnings this year.
In what was a difficult session for Mercedes in respect of the performance weights, Robert Wickens was the next best-placed driver from Stuttgart in 12th, ahead of Nico Muller, whilst title contenders Lucas Auer and Maxime Martin were way down the order in 14th and 15th.
The session saw all 18 drivers split by only 1.347 seconds, with the Mercedes trio of Paul Di Resta, Edoardo Mortara and Maro Engel starting at the back of the field.
Race nine of the 2017 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season gets underway at 1643 local time, lasting for 55 minutes plus one lap, with all drivers required to make a mandatory pit stop.
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:27.035 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:27.155 | 0.120 |
| 3 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:27.253 | 0.218 |
| 4 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:27.340 | 0.305 |
| 5 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:27.376 | 0.341 |
| 6 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:27.393 | 0.358 |
| 7 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:27.450 | 0.415 |
| 8 | 31 | Tom BLOMQVIST | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:27.467 | 0.432 |
| 9 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:27.538 | 0.503 |
| 10 | 77 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 12 | 1:27.541 | 0.506 |
| 11 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:27.612 | 0.577 |
| 12 | 6 | Robert WICKENS | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes me | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:27.625 | 0.590 |
| 13 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:27.734 | 0.699 |
| 14 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 11 | 1:27.757 | 0.722 |
| 15 | 36 | Maxime MARTIN |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:27.786 | 0.751 |
| 16 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 10 | 1:28.057 | 1.022 |
| 17 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:28.134 | 1.099 |
| 18 | 63 | Maro ENGEL | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 11 | 1:28.382 | 1.347 |