Bruno Spengler moved BMW to the top of the timesheets in second practice for the DTM season opener at Hockenheim, narrowly edging out Jake Dennis in the new R-Motorsport Aston Martin by just 0.014 seconds.
Spengler hit the top of the times in the closing minutes of the half-hour session, which took place on a wet circuit, resulting in times being around 13 seconds slower than they had been in first practice earlier in the day.
All three brands enjoyed spells at the top of the times, with conditions making the order much more volatile than the Audi dominance of late.
BMW Team RMG’s Marco Wittmann was third fastest, just under two tenths away from the top of the table.
Audi’s René Rast was fourth fastest, having topped the times early on in the session when conditions were wetter, followed by BMW’s Timo Glock in fifth.
Nico Müller, fastest for Audi in first practice, ended up in sixth, ahead of R-Motorsport’s Daniel Juncadella in seventh, with the Spaniard making it two Aston Martins inside the top ten ahead of the marque’s first qualifying session.
Audi drivers occupied the next five positions, with Abt Sportsline’s Robin Frijns in eighth, whilst Team Phoenix duo Loïc Duval and Mike Rockenfeller completed the top ten, the latter being the last driver within a second of the pace.
Only one driver, BMW’s Philipp Eng, failed to complete any laps in the session. Both R-Motorsport Aston Martin duo Ferdinand von Habsburg and Paul di Resta only completed six laps each and were at the bottom of the times, above Eng, as a result.
Qualifying for race one takes place at 10:30 CEST (09:30 BST) on Saturday.
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 14 | 1:43.780 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 76 | Jake DENNIS |  |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 17 | 1:43.794 | 0.014 |
| 3 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:43.965 | 0.185 |
| 4 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:44.020 | 0.240 |
| 5 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 16 | 1:44.147 | 0.367 |
| 6 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:44.277 | 0.497 |
| 7 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 17 | 1:44.280 | 0.500 |
| 8 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:44.524 | 0.744 |
| 9 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:44.648 | 0.868 |
| 10 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 18 | 1:44.674 | 0.894 |
| 11 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:44.841 | 1.061 |
| 12 | 21 | Pietro FITTIPALDI |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:45.601 | 1.821 |
| 13 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:45.713 | 1.933 |
| 14 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:45.975 | 2.195 |
| 15 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 17 | 1:46.029 | 2.249 |
| 16 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG |  |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 6 | 1:52.879 | 9.099 |
| 17 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage DTM | 6 | 1:55.515 | 11.735 |
| 18 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 0 | No time | N/A |