Mercedes’ Pascal Wehrlein set the pace in first DTM practice at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, with the 2015 champion putting in a best time that was three tenths faster than Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller.
Wehrlein hit the top of the times after around 12 minutes with his lap of 1 minute 39.344 seconds, and the German remained at the head of the timesheets thereafter. His lap time was around three tenths slower than the best lap around the longer Lausitzring circuit, which was last used in the DTM in 2004.
German Rockenfeller was second under clear and sunny skies, ahead of Mercedes duo Edoardo Mortara in third and Daniel Juncadella in fourth – with the Stuttgart marque having often had strong form at the East German circuit, with 13 out of 21 wins at the track.
Swiss racer Nico Müller put his Audi RS5 in fifth, ahead of the leading Brit of Jamie Green in sixth.
Philipp Eng was the leading BMW driver in seventh, putting the Austrian seventh tenths from the pace, ahead of Mercedes’ Paul di Resta in eighth.
BMW’s two-time champion Marco Wittmann and Mercedes’ Lucas Auer completed the top ten, the latter making it five Mercedes inside the top ten.
Second practice takes place at 09:15 CEST (08:15 BST) on Saturday.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 17 | 1:39.344 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 20 | 1:39.669 | 0.325 |
| 3 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 20 | 1:39.896 | 0.552 |
| 4 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 17 | 1:39.993 | 0.649 |
| 5 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:39.997 | 0.653 |
| 6 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:40.064 | 0.720 |
| 7 | 25 | Philipp ENG |  |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 1:40.076 | 0.732 |
| 8 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:40.085 | 0.741 |
| 9 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 1:40.101 | 0.757 |
| 10 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 20 | 1:40.123 | 0.779 |
| 11 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 21 | 1:40.190 | 0.846 |
| 12 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 18 | 1:40.409 | 1.065 |
| 13 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 16 | 1:40.420 | 1.076 |
| 14 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 19 | 1:40.497 | 1.153 |
| 15 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:40.702 | 1.358 |
| 16 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:40.841 | 1.497 |
| 17 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 20 | 1:40.984 | 1.640 |
| 18 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:41.271 | 1.927 |